Soon the Lobos were battling with their new brethren for recognition in the under rated WAC. Most importantly the new success of program helped them build a new arena for the program that has already made a name as one of the elite basketball arenas in the country.  The New Mexico Lobos enjoyed having the comfort of playing in the friendliest atmosphere in the country.  The innovative new style arena seats 18,000 (the largest arena in New Mexico) and was built 37 feet below sea level. The Lobos took some flack over playing in a hole in the ground in the middle of the desert.  That has all changed in the few years since it was built as Coach King’s Lobos ride the advantage of being able to play in the most raucous fieldhouse ever assembled. New Mexico has the loudest and best fans in the country and proved how tough the arena now affectionately called “The Pit” is to play in.  This season the Pit went to an entirely different level of notoriety as the Lobos did not lose a home game (and that included some huge wins over some high-profile teams)  Oh, and by the way, New Mexico had some darn good basketball players suiting up this year. 

King knows he had a superb group of returning seniors especially up front but he also knew that the Lobos had many holes on the overall roster.  King went back to the well again and again and that well just happens to be the junior college route. It has worked before but the one thing about relying on the Juco kids is you got to replace them a lot quicker so it is kind of a Groundhog Day effect. King is trying to bring in some four year kids and has emphasized the backcourt here but he also understands that if this program is going to move up with the elite of this conference, he has to get talent.  And this is the best road to travel.  For now.  But he will rely on those two seniors down low one more time to finally get this program out of NIT level and do some dancing.   

Senior Mel Daniels is one of the best in the land whether is be at power forward or at center.  Daniels comes from one of the great basketball factories in the country at Pershing High in Detroit Michigan.  Of course, when Daniels went there it wasn’t exactly a basketball factory as legendary Coach Will Robinson made a truant Daniels join the basketball team. He was not very good at first and barely played but worked his tail end off and after a growth spurt sent him to his six nine height he had a solid senior year.  Working on all of those fundamentals on the JV did not hurt either and all of those last place finished in wind sprints only built this kid’s character. After a year at Burlington JC in Iowa King found him and moved him west. Daniels wasn’t an immediate success but he continued to work and showed that he was a true leader as he would not accept less than the effort he was giving from his teammates.  Robinson had made him work his tail off just to play at Pershing and he knew he had he size and demeanor to do something special in this sport and in Albuquerque. A great competitor with a little bit of a mean streak, Daniels has all the skills to be a great player in the paint.  A true center, Daniels has the shot blocking and rebounding skills of the great ones.  One of the benefits of playing for the Lobos is that he has played next to another solid big man for all three years.  First it was Harge who at first was the star of the team and took much attention away from big Mel. Daniels was more of a defensive presence and rebounder.  He has developed a scoring touch, however, and a solid game on the blocks when he gets the ball.  This season as King is bringing in a true seven-footer but it will be seen if he can move Daniels out of the starting center spot.  Daniels will be the key though as he was the immovable object down low this entire system functions around on both ends.     How important is he to the success of the Lobos?  He went out for a few games with some pulled stomach muscles and of course they lost all of the games.  A deserved first team All-WAC performer and honorable mention All-American, Daniels should be mentioned in the same breath as the great ones at this position such as Pettit, Lucas and Hayes. Daniels is one of if not the most dominant player that has ever laced them up in the WAC.  When asked to define Daniels best skill Coach King responded with one word “Winner”

Ira Harge is probably as responsible for the recent success of the Lobos as any person not named Bob King.  If Harge had not decided to move west after his sensational junior college career at Burlington then maybe the others don’t decide to join this circus either. After all Harge was arguably the heaviest recruited JC player in the country after averaging a ridiculous 30 points and 20 boards a game for Burlington. Daniels was still developing and was his sidekick in Iowa. They both came from Detroit albeit Harge was born in Mississippi and had a stop-over at Bowling Green for a minute.  He actually enrolled there (can you imagine him next to Nate Thurmond) and then his Dad got sick and he had to drop out and go take care of him back in Detroit.  That is just the kind of character this kid had.  The six nine 225 pound Harge also had the perfect body for big time basketball.  He can play the five but switches over to the four as he is not the shot blocker Daniels is/  His first year in Albuquerque he put up great numbers but when King asked him to come off the bench to make room for the Big Aussie he did not hesitate for a second.  He still gets to bang in the paint with the big boys every game and Ira does make his presence felt.  Especially on the boards and the defensive end!  This man is Large and in charge and has given up some of his scoring to do the dirty work and let me tell you the fans might not notice but his teammates do. He plays the game for one reason and one reason only.  To win games.  He might not have the talent of Daniels or the size of Longley but I guarantee you this Ira Harge was just as important to the Lobo’s team success as either one of them!  The funny thing about the Lobos was the amount of talent they have accumulated up front.  As a matter of fact arguably the most talented upperclassman up front barely got on the court this season.  Senior Greg ‘Stretch’ Howard is a six nine long armed wonder who has crazy mad skills and when motivated is impossible to stop down low.  A Pittsburgh product from the Rec Centers Howard came out West and had shown that he can hang with the best of them and might be the most talented of the lot.  Some strange things happened to Howard however as this juco transfer was not allowed to play in the WAC tournament last season.  There ‘was’ this rule that did not allow JC transfers to play in the Big Dance and thus the tourneys that funneled them their way. Most leagues had done away with it but not the WAC.  Of course, they still allow all of them missionary kids to play after getting a two year break to mature while not wearing down their bodies!  But JC guys?  No Way!  King (and Howard) were outraged and protested and right did prevail but it was way after the fact which did not help anyone last year. Howard had to go through a bunch of nonsense and was under constant scrutiny from the powers that be.  He missed a trip overseas while battling this and that did not sit well with King and from the moment he was ruled ineligible for that tourney this kid’s life has been a roller coaster.  Howard has always been the type that beats to his own drum and came into training camp with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.  He did not like all of the attention the ‘haircut from down under’ was getting and missed a few practices.  He already did not like sitting behind Harge and Daniels who he believed he was better than (and he might be right, he is that good) and now this huge ‘ginger’ kid was making a claim on his minutes.  King soon suspended him for some team infractions primary of which was smoking.  Yes, smoking!  We will see how this Peyton Place turns out but the funny thing is even if this kid doesn’t come back he is so talented he might still get a shot at the next level.    The ugly is that ‘Stretch’ never had a chance to replicate his magnificent performance against the Aggies he pulled off last year when he made 16 of 18 shots to lead the Lobos to victory.  Howard is not the only upperclassmen who got pinched for minutes with the young kids coming aboard.  Junior Willie Long might be the heaviest recruited played ever to come to Albuquerque directly after winning Indiana’s Mr. Basketball after a stellar prep career in Fort Wayne. Still, like Howard, he was stuck behind the two ‘blocks of granite’ that had basically built this program and the old school King was not going to push this kid ahead of them no matter how good he was.  He did play more often at the three than he would have liked to take advantage of a nice jumper he has been working on since his many days in a Y back in Fort Wayne. Long is a tough kid who’s best part of his game is mixing it up down low and was better suited as a four than a three.  His toughness (and possible frustration out of not playing major minutes) got the best of him however in the game against the rival Aggies in the Pit.  He came off the bench after Harge and Sam Lacey had repeatedly bumped and banged to the point of mutual technical.  The same thing started with Long but instead of dealing with Lacey’s physical play he just flat decked him. This kind of play was acceptable not too long ago but nowadays not so much and Long missed ten games with a suspension.  Long is a terrific offensive player and should get more of a chance to play when Daniels, Harge and his buddy Mr. Howard are gone but he needs to keep his rough play off the court.  He can play this game though and could play now if all falls right. 

If you think they love Big Mel in Albuquerque that is nothing compared to the admiration they show their hero.  Toby Roybal matriculated to the Lobos five years ago from Santa Fe and the rest is history.  The senior captain became the only star of the dark years before King changed this program forever.  A terrific scorer this six two wing is not selfish and was just as happy setting up teammates when he was double (or triple) teamed which was often.  Roybal had some monster games like when he scored 45 even though he fouled out with two minutes left and got a two minute standing ovation in old Carlisle Gym as he walked off the court.  Roybal stepped aside for two years to serve his country in the military but is back this year to ‘help’ the Lobos achieve the kind of success he longed for. Roybal was doing just that when he couldn’t beat a lingering flu and had to shut it down for his final season.  Of course later we would find out that Roybal was battling cancer and he passed away during the spring.  He never once let on what was really going on during the year and though he did not travel was on the bench for the great run right next to his teammates rooting them on.  Roybal will never get the chance to show the rest of the country how good he was (the Knicks did make him an honorary draft pick) but the good people of Albuquerque will never forget their hero.  Before the first game next season Roybal’s # 44 will be the first number every retired at the Pit! 

The Lobos have a solid bench with plenty of specific skill substitutes.  The ‘Three Rons’ are back for more and all bring something to the table.  Ron Sanford goes 6’9 and eats up space and played more than expected last year.  Ron Becker is a solid wing who plays both ends but is not overly athletic.  The real find last year in the backcourt was another JC kid in Ron Nelson. This 6’2 guard transferred in from a Military Institute and quickly became the sixth man for King. Tough-nosed but with a nice jump shot, Nelson is a local kid (Artesia) who does everything well.  King likes him and will start him again unless he can find some more athleticism from the new recruits.  And he is bringing in lots of wings. Bill Morgan and Ben Monroe have had some success in the past here and both started at various times.  Both are deep on the bench now but will be ready if needed.

Sounds like a pretty good team right?  Well they did have one weakness.  Point Guard was al little suspect.  Junior Petie Gibson was the incumbent and started most of the games and is as fast as they come but he is not much of a scorer. At only five seven Gibson is one heck of a passer but has a hard time hanging with some bigger guards such as Danny Ainge.  This Pittsburgh native (and the grandson of the great Josh Gibson) was heavily recruited but this waterbug had a hard time adjusting to King’s deliberate offense, after all a team that has the sloth like Big Mel the Large One are not exactly going to run a show time fast break. Speaking of these kids got a chance to run with the Lakers as new coach Jack McKinney brought the Lake Show to New Mexico. He set up some scrimmages with King (those connections) and gave this team some huge experience amidst the star gazing and hobnobbing  Gibson grew up in a Rec Center and plays that kind of street ball where this whirling dervish has developed some of the most imaginative passing skills you might ever get to see but in the half-court offense King prefers Gibson’s creativity gets lost. Last season King did let Petie go at times with his new group of running mates and he has got much better at running the half court sets though without a reliable jump shot he at times becomes the dreaded ‘black hole’ in the offense.  King was looking for someone a bit bigger and gave Nelson some chances to run the team though he is a score first type of point guard.  Sophomore Kelvin Scarborough could be the future as he has all of the tools to be something special.  This DC native was a huge recruit but unlike Gibson adjusted quite quickly to his new surroundings and the style of basketball King deploys.  He is almost as quick as Petie but brings much more to the table as a scorer though for now he is much more of a set up guy with all of the offensive players around him.  And he is a terrific pick pocket who was second on the team in steals averaging under ten minutes a game.  This cat quick lefty can also score and showed the second half he has a real shot of being something special for the Lobos.  Scarborough did have some huge games and yes he was more dynamic but really didn’t match up that well with some of the bigger guards in the WAC especially at this position as he only goes six one. Fellow Sophomore Phil Smith has the same problem but even worse at only five eleven.  Smith plays ornery and is leathery tough with a chip always on his shoulder and can really penetrate but lost the backup job to Scarborough and barely played the second half of the season. Smith was superb on JV though and will be back in the mix for minutes.  Either way King decides to go with his three-headed monster, this position will go a long way in determining how far the Lobos go and how far up the totem pole they climb in the WAC.    

Many would assume that the New Mexico Lobos were a lucky team that lived off a great home court and really didn’t belong in the elite of the WAC.  Those people would be wrong.  The Lobos are a very good team that with a few breaks could have made it to the Big Dance and would have been a handful for any team.  Blessed with two of the best all-around big men in the WAC in Mel Daniels and Ira Harge, the Lobos had a solid year.  They rode a 7 game mid-season winning streak to get an invite to the NIT after finishing in 5th in the tough WAC. They did not lose at home as the Pit proved once again it was one of the loudest and toughest places in the entire country to play. This program will continue to recruit and teach great players as not just be considered the team that has the Pit.  On the other hand, that is not such a bad thing after all is it unless of course you’re a visiting team.  And don’t forget this team has to go on the road and play as well and after last year’s pedestrian 4-10 record they need to get better.  Me and you and dog named Boo is not just a song for the Lobos this year but a mentality they want to exhibit as they move towards their goal of finally getting to the Big Dance.  And by the way they are playing some tourney games in the Pit this year so that would be a perfect ending to this steady move upwards started by the erstwhile King.  There are rumors that King is breaking bad and moving on after this year but assistant Coach Stormin’ Norman Ellenberger is ready.  He is one heck of a recruiter already having learned from the King himself.