The New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team represents the University of New Mexico, competing in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) in NCAA Division I. The university established basketball as a varsity sport in 1899 and began competing with regional colleges after establishing an athletics department in 1920.

Lobo basketball first achieved national prominence after Bob King was hired as head coach in 1962. King transformed a moribund program into a consistent winner and produced future ABA MVP Mel Daniels. The Lobos won the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championship in 1964 and 1968, making frequent appearances in national rankings. The team reached the NIT tournament final in 1964 and received its first bid to the NCAA tournament in 1968. The success of the program continued after King departed, winning WAC titles in 1974, 1978, and 1994, winning the conference tournament in 1993 and 1996, and regularly earning post-season tournament bids.

The Lobos became frequent participants in the NCAA tournament during the 1990s and have made 16 appearances overall, as well as 20 NIT appearances. They have won the MWC regular season championship and the conference tournament five times each. In addition to Daniels, other prominent players produced by the Lobo program include five-time NBA champion Michael Cooper, three-time NBA champion Luc Longley, NBA all-star Danny Granger, and Kenny Thomas.

The Lobos' home venue, known as "The Pit", is recognized as one of the best college basketball arenas in the country.In 1999, Sports Illustrated ranked The Pit as one of the Top 20 Sporting Venues of the 20th Century. SI's Top 20 Venues of the 20th Century, Sports Illustrated, June 7, 1999. The Pit opened in 1966 and the Lobos have been dominant playing there, winning over 80 percent of their games, while regularly placing among national leaders in attendance. The arena has frequently hosted NCAA tournament games, including the 1983 NCAA Final Four that featured one of the most memorable finishes in tournament history.NCAA Video, 1983: NC State's last second lay-in, NCAA.com.

History

Roy W. Johnson (1920–1960)

Roy Johnson, nicknamed "Old Iron Head", was fundamental to the early development of Lobo athletics.Roy Johnson, New Mexico Athletics Official Site. Johnson arrived in 1920 after a successful athletic career at the University of Michigan. The UNM gymnasium at the time was a small wooden building where the walls were out-of-bounds markers for basketball games.Terry Gugliotta, University Arena, Center for Southwest Research, University Archives. Archived from the original on 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2007-12-28. Basketball was primarily an intramural sport, with occasional games against other schools, including Albuquerque High School, and no regular schedule.Media Guide 2013–14, p.132. Johnson set about building collegiate-level athletics facilities, performing some of the hard labor with his own hands. He oversaw construction of Carlisle Gymnasium in 1928 and Zimmerman Field in 1938, the first football stadium at UNM.An Adobe Stadium , Duke City Fix, May 14, 2010.

During his nearly 40 years at UNM, Johnson coached every men's sport the school offered, while teaching physical education. A decorated veteran who served in World Wars I and II, he was the UNM athletic director from 1920 to 1949. He established regularly scheduled games against regional colleges, and in 1931 UNM joined the Border Conference as a founding member. Johnson coached the UNM basketball team for all but two seasons from 1920 to 1940. From 1924 to 1934, his teams posted a 104–38 (.732) record.Media Guide 2013–14, p.130. The Lobos won 165 games with Johnson as head basketball coach, a school record for over 30 years and currently third on its all-time list.

Johnson stepped down as head basketball coach after the 1939–40 season. The position passed to a few different coaches before Woody Clements took over 1944–51 and 1953–55, compiling a record of 113–119 (.487). The Lobos won the Border Conference in 1944 and 1945, and they appeared in the NAIA post-season tournament in 1947, losing to Hamline University in the first round. From 1951 to 1962, the Lobos competed in the Mountain States Conference, known at the time as the Skyline Eight. In 1957, while still on faculty, Johnson oversaw construction of the 7,800-seat arena that bears his name, Johnson Gymnasium.Roy W. Johnson, Johnson Center (photo), New Mexico's Digital Collections, University Libraries, Center for Regional Studies, University of New Mexico. For many years, Johnson Gym was the most prominent feature of the UNM campus for those driving along Central Avenue in Albuquerque, part of historic U.S. Route 66.

Bob King (1962–1972) Lobo basketball first achieved national prominence under Bob King, who was previously an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Iowa. The Lobos had only two winning seasons from 1947 to 1962, compiling a 113–252 (.310) record, including a dismal 42–149 (.220) during the last eight years. King had an immediate impact on the program.Richard Stevens, The Passion of Pit Basketball Started in Johnson Gym, New Mexico Official Athletics Site, June 9, 2013. The Lobos won as many games in his first two seasons as in the previous seven combined and went 116–44 (.725) over his first six seasons. They went 175–89 (.663) in ten seasons with King as head coach, winning two conference titles and making four appearances in post-season tournaments.

New Mexico joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) as a founding member before King's first season. His first team went 16–9, the best Lobo record in 17 years. The following season, 1963–64, the Lobos won their first WAC championship, led by Ira Harge, who King had recruited from a junior college in Iowa.LeRoy Bearman, Lobo Coach Bob King Lands Towering Center, Albuquerque Journal, December 16, 1962, p.37 (via Newspapers.com) The team posted wins over Kansas and at Purdue and received a berth in the 1964 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Lobos defeated Drake and NYU before falling to Bradley in the championship game, finishing with a 23–6 record and ranked 16th in the UPI poll.Media Guide 2013–14, pp.85,135. Harge averaged 18.8 points and 11.8 rebounds a game during his two seasons at UNM and was selected in the second round of the 1964 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.Harge later had a successful career in the ABA. Ira Harge, ABA Stats, Basketball Reference.com.

The rise of the program continued in the 1964–65 season, led by sophomores Mel Daniels and Ben Monroe. After an early loss at Kansas, the Lobos won ten straight, later building a 19–3 record and attaining a #10 national ranking, their first appearance in the AP poll. They dropped their next four games on the road, however, including a one-point loss at #10 BYU.Media Guide 2013–14, pp.135–36. They were again invited to the NIT, where they lost to St. John's to finish 19–8. Daniels averaged over 17 points and 11 rebounds a game, providing the fast-growing Lobo fan base a preview of things to come. Due to the success of King's first three seasons, attendance at Johnson Gym more than doubled, and plans to build a larger arena began to take shape.Media Guide 2013–14, pp.93,96. In the 1965–66 season, Daniels averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds a game, and the Lobos raced out to an 11–1 record after beating #7 BYU. They faltered down the stretch though and finished 16–8, completing the team's best four-year stretch in nearly forty seasons.

University Arena opened as the home venue of the Lobos on December 1, 1966. Because the playing surface is 37 feet below grade, students nicknamed the arena "The Pit," and the nickname stuck.Carlos Salazar, Soundoff in 'the Pit' ... King Likes Discipline, Albuquerque Tribune, December 2, 1966, p. D-1. The team began the 1966–67 season ranked 6th in the country and rose to #5 before winning at #2 UTEP, the defending national champion and highest-ranked team New Mexico had ever beaten at that point.Media Guide 2013–14, p.136.UTEP was still known as Texas Western at the time, shortly before changing its name in 1967. The Lobos reached #3 with an 11–1 record but then lost four straight and fell out of the rankings. Despite a disappointing WAC campaign, they received a bid to the NIT. The Lobos beat Syracuse in the first round before losing to Rutgers, finishing the season 19–8 and ranked #18 in the UPI.Media Guide 2013–14, pp.84–85. Daniels averaged 21.5 points and 11.6 rebounds a game, finishing his career with a still-team record 44 double-doubles,Media Guide 2013–14, p.69. and he became the first Lobo to be named as an All-American.Media Guide 2013–14, p.86. He was selected as the ninth pick overall in the 1967 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals, but he chose to play in the fledgling American Basketball Association (ABA), becoming one of its greatest all-time players. He was named the first ABA Rookie of the Year in 1968, ABA Most Valuable Player in 1969 and 1971, and he led the Indiana Pacers to three ABA championships.Mel Daniels, NBA & ABA Stats, Basketball Reference.com.

Stoking the popularity of Lobo basketball by this time was the success of two longtime rivals. New Mexico began playing New Mexico State in 1904, currently totaling over 200 games; they first played UTEP in 1929, with over 140 games total.Media Guide 2013–14, p.142. Don Haskins took over at UTEP in 1961 and led the Miners to a 128–32 (.800) record in his first six seasons, including a 28–1 national championship season in 1965–66.NCAA Video, 1966: Win for Civil Rights, NCAA.com. New Mexico State hired Lou Henson as head coach in 1966, and like the Lobos under King, in his second season the Aggies began achieving national rankings and post-season tournament appearances. They went 74–14 (.841) from 1967 to 1970, including a 27–3 season in 1969–70 in which they were ranked in the top five most of the year, culminating in a Final Four appearance. The Lobos, Aggies, and Miners played one another twice every season, home-and-away, and a fierce rivalry grew among them. The teams were frequently ranked in national polls, giving their games a showdown quality extending beyond local bragging rights to the national stage.

The Lobos lost Daniels and Monroe to graduation and were picked in the 1967–68 preseason to finish last in the WAC.Media Guide 2013–14, p.104. Instead, they started the season 17–0, rising to #6 before beating #5 Utah in the Pit, propelling the Lobos to #4. Four starters averaged in double-figures in scoring, led by senior guard Ron Nelson at 19.5 points a game.Media Guide 2013–14, p.100. They swept their regular season match-ups against New Mexico State, with both teams ranked in the top ten at the time of their second game. The Lobos won the WAC championship, Nelson was named a Helms All-American, and the Lobos earned their first NCAA tournament appearance. They entered the tournament 23–3 and ranked #6. They hosted their first-round game in The Pit but lost to unranked Santa Clara. Starting center Greg "Stretch" Howard was ineligible due to an NCAA rule disallowing transfers to play in postseason games; without his 14 points and 10 rebounds a game, the Lobos' balanced attack withered, and Nelson was their only consistent offense.Media Guide 2013–14, pp.114,116. Also playing in the first round at The Pit, New Mexico State lost to eventual champion UCLA, then won the consolation game over the Lobos, who finished the season 23–5.