It’s Monday, and we are back at it! The NCAA Tournament is now down to four teams, though none from the Mountain West. Check out our original coverage and what we can find from the World Wide Web below.
News broke on Sunday that New Mexico had found its new men’s basketball coach. Eric Olen, fresh off a 30-win season and a big turnaround over the past three years, will leave UC San Diego to head to Albuquerque. He was the Big Sky coach of the year in the last two seasons and is considered a quick riser as far as coaches go. He runs unique schemes, a five-man out offense and a matchup zone on defense, both of which made up for the lack of size he’s had on his rosters. It will be interesting to see if that will continue or if it was a product of recruiting at a lower-level school.
Boise State is still playing, or rather will resume playing, later today in the inaugural College Basketball Crown Tournament. They will play against George Washington, who has the kind of size inside and aggressive defense that has given Boise State fits this season. The Broncos are expected to win a game or two in this tournament to cap off their basketball season.
Coach Sean Lewis called last season embarrassing, citing the lack of pride in their performance and the leadership missing from last season. To address that, Lewis gave every player white t-shirts and black shorts for winter workouts, making them earn wearing team colors and for some, their jersey numbers. Only five players were given red shirts (not redshirts) to acknowledge their role as leaders and how they have proven themselves. At this point in spring ball, Lewis says about half the team has earned their colors, while a few players have had numbers given or taken from them. We will see how it translates to the season.
That is what Chris Murray is saying this week. He advocates for players to be able to make money after decades of that not being the case. While he acknowledges it sucks that player emerge as great players as mid-majors and then go pursue other schools to complete their careers, he adds that players should be able to pursue life-changing money. Murray argues TV ratings and attendance remain strong, even if things are more expensive for the average fan. This better mirrors the rest of the marketplace, where people can leave jobs for better opportunities. And for the programs who do invest in players, they can field strong teams, even if they will lose players every year as well.
Spartans Esports Champs
Spring Ball Schedules:
This will be updated as more information comes in.
Hawaii: Feb 3-March 9 (spring game)
Air Force: Feb 11-March 20
Fresno State: March 7-April 5 (spring game)
Nevada: March 10- April 11 (spring game)
Boise State: March 10-April 19 (spring game)
San Diego State: March 10-April 19 (spring game)
New Mexico: March 11-April 18 (spring game)
Colorado State: March 25-April 26 (spring game)
Wyoming March 25- April 26 (spring game)
UNLV: March 27- April 26 (spring game)
San Jose State: March 18-April 26 (Spring Game)
On the horizon:
- Later today: A new MW Recruiting Roundup
- Coming Tuesday: Reacts Survey
- Coming Tuesday: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Quarterback Preview
- Coming Tuesday: Hike’s Peak Podcast Episode 96
- Coming Wednesday: Peak Perspective: Recent History of the Mountain West in the NFL
