I was absolutely floored by this news when I got the call.
This is an unbelievable honor from peers -- some I know, some I've never met. It wouldn't be possible without our engaging readers and the support from the
@ABQJournal
to cover college basketball the way we do.
Honored.
I asked
@LoboCoachPitino
about the big college basketball news of the week since he's obviously quite familiar with most everyone involved in the IARP's ruling on Thursday on
@LouisvilleMBB
and his father,
@RealPitino
. Most of his answer here:
(1/2) Saturday, I lost it when after my new daughter was delivered she only stopped crying the second she heard my voice and was put in my arms.
Later in the morning, I melted all over again seeing pure love in my 9yo daughter’s eyes when she met her new sister.
I’m a mess.
DAD NEWS:
Driving my 9yo daughter to school, she asked if we could fill out our brackets tonight while eating tacos for Taco Tuesday.
I pulled over and cried.
PART 2:
@shutrbugg
and I thought the first one turned out OK. So, Grammer Girl No. 2 is coming in July.
Send help.
Be pissed off that a team lost. Be disappointed the Lobos aren't comfortably in the NCAA Tournament like you expected. Be mad you feel they are underperforming. But to reply to a video about senior night saying you're glad the seniors are leaving is pretty much just shitty.
Wow. This is crazy. The UNM Lobos are the only one of the four 11 seeds that had an even-numbered NET.
Oh, and a mere 37-61spots higher than their peers at the 11 seed, that is sort of interesting, too.
The UNM Lobos are ranked No. 22 in todays' new release of the
@AP_Top25
men's basketball poll
It's the program's first Top 25 ranking since the 2013-14 season.
Alabama and New Mexico each allowed Texas A&M to score 24 points in the first half of their games there in College Station this season. Pretty identical teams in a lot of ways, the Tide and the Lobos.
Mad respect,
@AppelhansBraden
.
Depression is no joke. It's gotten the best of people close to me. I can't tell you how happy I am that you shared your story. Others need to know they aren't alone with these issues.
More than that, I'm happy to know you are OK right now.
Those of you who follow New Mexico basketball may have noticed I haven’t been playing or anyone who knows me may have noticed I have been so distant from everyone and there is a good reason for that.
I have struggled with depression off and on since high school. I was diagnosed…
Four bid Mountain West it is.
5 seed - San Diego State
10 seed - Boise State
10 seed - Utah State
11 seed - Nevada
Hell of a season for the MW, and rewarded for it.
Sorry guys. I’m not going anywhere.
I have been assured I am still the Lobo hoops writer. I am also the TEMPORARY higher-ed reporter (send all those juicy enrollment and tuition tips this way), but will do both jobs for now and return to just sports later this fall.
#Drink
Hey
@NBCSports
, this is also not NMSU, who the story is about and nobody in this picture play for the school you're posting a story about or have quit the team.
That's TWO stories posted today, both using "Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports" images that are the wrong team/players.
Per
@NMStatePolice
• UNM student killed Saturday was 19yo Brandon Travis
• He, 2 men & 17yo girl conspired to get NMSU basketball player Mike Peake to campus to "assault" him
• Peake was shot, but also had a gun & shot Travis
• Girl arrested, other 2 men IDd, not yet charged
BREAKING: Tonight's NMSU Aggies at UNM Lobo basketball game in the Pit is postponed after involvement of an NMSU player in an overnight homicide on UNM's campus (the player is NOT the deceased) via
@ABQJournal
I'll post more later, but here are two pics that proved it happened.
I was also told I won by having the shortest speech. Always know your audience.
Thank you
@USBWA
, outgoing president
@LukeDeCock
and incoming president
@BFQuinn
for making a guy from the
@ABQJournal
feel seen.
FINAL: New Mexico State 78, New Mexico 76 (OT)
• NMSU circus shot goes in at buzzer then Aggies stomp on Lobo at center court. AD Eddie Nuñez goes out there to get them off.
• Series splits 1-1
One non-basketball question for Richard Pitino at today's presser.
I asked him about the recent firing of UNM Lobo football coach Danny Gonzales. Pitino's answer:
Basketball found Nelly Junior Joseph (
@eazynelz
), and it has brought him from walking the streets of Nigeria looking for his next meal to playing in his third NCAA Tournament, first as a UNM Lobo, and on the brink of a college degree. via
@ABQJournal
In the past 20yrs my grandma had 5-6 "one last time to Hawaii" trips to see family.
She lectured me 8 years ago when I wished her a happy 90th birthday on Facebook. "Geoffrey Charles Grammer! You never tell a woman's age!"
Tough as nails till the end.
Rest in peace, Grandma.
STORY AND VIDEO:
• After 37 years in coaching, Lobos' Dave Pilipovich, the longtime Air Force coach, is grateful for his first trip to the NCAA Tournament at age 60 (
@davepilipovich
) via
@ABQJournal
#mwbb
"That's the most talented team in the Mountain West top to bottom. I do not envy the 6, 7 seed that has to play them in the NCAA Tournament.
"We were ready. It wasn't a matter of not being ready. That team, when they're locked in, they're going to beat a lot of teams in this…
Waking up wondering about that late-night Lobo game?
--
Third time's a charm: UNM bounces Boise State from Mountain West Tournament ... House, Dent put on show... Lobos hold Broncos to 29.4% shooting via
@ABQJournal
(AJ pics by
@msandovalphotos
)
Change can be good, whether we want it or not.
I'll be moved to news coverage starting next week. Hope to be focussed on sports again down the road. I'm told this is temporary and I can still do sports if it fits around new duties.
For the sports followers, it's been real.
My 7th grade daughter who looks like a 4th grader and has never stepped foot on this high school campus, got invited to perform — SOLO! — in front of kids at Del Norte High School. It was windy. It was cold. And all alone she kicked butt w/ a performance she learned at
@NIFNM
.
No so popular MW take:
• The seeding of the Mountain West was lower than I thought, but not by much at all.
• Some specific teams and fan bases can be mad. I'm not suggesting otherwise. But the big takeaway from today for the MW should be it ACTUALLY PULLED OFF a
#6BidMW
.
BREAKING: Tonight's NMSU Aggies at UNM Lobo basketball game in the Pit is postponed after involvement of an NMSU player in an overnight homicide on UNM's campus (the player is NOT the deceased) via
@ABQJournal
Mountain West Tournament MVP: Jaelen House
All-MW Tournament Team
• Jaelen House, UNM
• Jamal Mashburn Jr., UNM
• JT Toppin, UNM
• Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State
• Great Osobor, Utah State
(
@ABQJournal
photo by
@msandovalphotos
)
Like I've always said, bet on the Mountain West in March.
Once again, the MWC has outlasted the Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC in the NCAA Tournament.
Some conferences just aren't made for March, I guess.
Sending me DMs telling me I need to get the courage to call out Lobo players and coaches on a 13-2 team that has less drama on court or off it than any Lobo team I've covered in a decade makes me wonder how some of you even enjoy sports at all.
Bill Walton & Dave Pasch exchange on Dana Altman's possible interest in Nebraska job before re-signing with Oregon:
Walton: "How many people do you know that are moving out of Oregon to Nebraska?"
Pasch: "He's from there."
Walton: "He's FROM there for a reason."
My guy
@austindenton_7
tackled this business with more energy by the end of high school than me and 99.9% of my colleagues have in our entire careers.
Inspiration sneaks up on us in different forms and at different points in our life. Austin inspired me.
RIP, my friend.
Official announced attendance for tonight's NMSU at UNM game in the Pit:
15,435 (capacity 15,411)
First nonconference sell out in the Pit since December 2013
Mountain West tonight:
• OT in Laramie
• OT in Fresno
• banked-in game-winner from half court game winner at the buzzer in Fort Collins
How can the NCAA Selection Committee not just put all 11 Mountain West teams in the damn tournament at this point?
#11bidMountainWest
Welp...
Before hitting road to Laramie today, I tested positive for COVID-19. I'm double vaxxed and boosted, which is what I hope everyone does. Managed to avoid this damn thing until now despite arenas, airplanes and airports (as Twitter followers know).
Be safe everyone!
This is what happens when the lowly Mountain West beats you out in just about every metric in the sport, including NET. The commissioner gets flustered and wants eye test, which is code for let in the teams we all assume to be good every year and not actually look at results.
ACC commissoner Jim Phillips believes selection committee has become too reliant on the NET rankings to evaluate teams, rather than just evaluating them on way they play. We think it might be nice if members actually used the eye test in giving out bids, making seeding decisions
Unfortunately for the Mountain West, there isn't another matchup with a team as undeserving of being in the tournament as Virginia. But good for the league for one night for doing what it had to do.
#6bidFinalFour
UNM tells me as of Wednesday afternoon, there have been 11,500 tickets sold for Saturday's UNM/NMSU game in the Pit, including all 40 suites have been rented out.
Just walked from FedEx Forum to hotel.
I passed 7 places with live music, picked up ribs from Blues City Cafe, saw an Elvis statue and had someone I didn't recognize in a horse drawn carriage with neon lights blasting Reba McEntire yell, "Grammer! Drink!" near Beale Street.
Had to check myself after I saw
@r2v2_
's tweet, but sure enough, on tonight's
@YouTube
virtual graduation ceremony, there was
@RitaWilson
and
@tomhanks
and Tom Hanks was wearing an
@UNMLOBOS
pullover. ... Yes, the same Tom Hanks probably best known for his role Kip Wilson.
As has been posted by others, I can confirm via sources Richard Pitino is not in the mix at this point for the Louisville job and remains the coach of the UNM Lobos.
After last night, I think
@enunez15
and UNM athletics could solve all the department's debt issues if they get those state flag themed yellow Lobo jerseys on sale ASAP.
Mountain West Tuesday finals:
• No. 17 San Diego State 74, Stanford 62
• San Jose State 70, Alabama State 57
• Nevada 98, (NAIA) William Jessup 54
• New Mexico 84, SMU 63
• UNLV 60, No. 21 Dayton 52
Really big night for the league.
Good on
@JonnyBones
for donating $25,000 to
@TheFoodDepot
of Northern New Mexico, where that money will help with more than 100,000 meals for people in need. I know how hard the people at The Food Depot have been working and how much good this money do for our state.
Happy La Bamba premiere anniversary! (premiered on July 24, 1987)
Name a better 1-2 brothers punch in movie history than
@LouDPhillips
and
@Esai_Morales
? You can't.
Lobo legend and former Los Angeles
@Lakers
star Michael Cooper honored on the court, then runs over to give some love to fellow former Lakers great
@SHAQ
.
KenPom movement after tonight's NCAA Tournament games that might be of interest:
• Colorado State moved from 38 to 30
• New Mexico moved from 23 to 22, swapping spots with Kansas
After 3rd or 4th time a student in the Utah State student section yelled at UNM’s Makuach Maluach “You look like a refugee!” I turned and told him his family actualy are refugees from Sudan. To fellow students’ credit, a couple girls in front of him were telling him to shut up
Jemarl Baker, 6-5 grad transfer guard from Fresno State, has committed to UNM Lobos, per IG
• Former 4-star recruit, 1 yr at Kentucky, 1.5 at Arizona, past 2 at Fresno St (just 5 games in 2022)
• This season 12.5 ppg, 2.9 apg (had 43pt game)
• 14.5ppg/5.0apg in 2 games vs UNM
I'm blown away by this. So happy for former UNM Lobo Tony Snell and his family and proud of the guy for doing this -- both going public with it and the good he's going to do by sharing his story. Good work Tony and Ashley.
I rarely get picked up at the airport, but I have done it twice for Mountain West tourney weeks. One was 7yrs ago when
@shutrbugg
took pic of me and the older daughter. One was this weekend when she took this pic of me and the little monster.
Man, I love being these girls' dad.
Made a "personal news" announcement last night about being moved to news starting Monday. Turned off social after that.
Thank you all for well wishes and support.
I spent six years on news side. No problems with that, but I do hope to be back in sports someday, somewhere.
Bill Walton’s Final Four: USC, Colorado, Oregon State, Oregon (despite being in USC’s region), UCLA (despite that you can only have 4 teams in the final four).