New Mexico State coaching search: Five names who would fit in Las Cruces
LAS CRUCES - As conference tournaments end this week, it's possible that New Mexico State's search to hire its next men's basketball coach will intensify as early as next week.
The school will use a search firm, which NM State Director of Athletics Mario Moccia said would be used primarily to conduct background searches for candidates.
Chris Jans was a dark horse hire for Moccia in 2017. To an extent, so was Greg Heiar roughly a year ago so it's possible the next Aggies coach is currently under the radar, as well. But Moccia has provided some parameters for this go around.
The Aggies have had to look outside the box to hire men’s basketball coaches, but this time around Moccia has said previous Division I head coaching experience is important as the program looks to rebuild after a tumultuous season that included a fatal shooting in Albuquerque that involved an Aggies player and hazing allegations that resulted in the cancellation of the Aggies season and the firing of Heiar in February.
"I think the focus, aside from getting the best basketball coach we can find for the salary that we can offer, is a demonstrated ability to be a disciplinarian and how they run their program from past employment," Moccia said.
"Finding a sitting or experienced coach with a good record who can win in Las Cruces makes the eye of the needle a little smaller than what it's been. This time around, I would certainly like to have a sitting or former Division I head coach with a proven track record."
Experience and salary will likely dictate the next search.
Marvin Menzies was the last head coach to make over $400,000 in base salary at NM State.
Paul Weir was hired for a base salary of $275,000, Chris Jans had a base salary of $270,000 when he was hired in 2017 and it was $290,000 when he left last year. Heiar's base salary in 2022-23 was $300,000.
It remains to be seen if NM State can increase the salary for the men’s basketball coach, but the reality is there are quality mid-major coaches across the country that have had success for even less than Heiar’s salary, which would be the fourth lowest among next season’s Conference USA teams.
With coaching experience and potential salary in mind, here are five coaches who check some of, if not all, of the boxes and ranked in order of best fit to long shots:
Jason Hooten, Sam Houston State head coach: Like NM State, Sam Houston State is joining Conference USA next year and they could be joining after leading Sam Houston State to the NCAA Tournament.
SHSU is the No. 1 seed in the WAC Tournament under Hooten, who has been at the school since 2004 and the head coach since 2010. Hooten had a $240,000 salary at Sam Houston State so a potential buyout may not scare Aggies administration away.
Steve Lutz, Texas A&M Corpus Christi head coach: Not only has Lutz taken Corpus Christi to the NCAA Tournament in his first two years on the job, he also has the assistant coach at high major programs that Moccia has coveted, highlighted by his four years at Purdue under Matt Painter (former Southern Illinois coach).
Lutz made a base salary of $240,000, according to USA Today Sports Network in partnership with the Knight-Newhouse Date project at Syracuse University.
Lutz turned his program around quickly with 10 transfers in his first season last year, which is commonplace in college sports right now and common at NM State.
Moccia likes to highlight accomplishments for coaches, and as a two-time Southland championship coach, Lutz will move to a bigger league at some point and CUSA seems like a natural next leap.
Todd Simon, Southern Utah head coach: The second sitting WAC head coach on this list has also won games at a lower tier mid-major. SUU is the No. 3 seed in this week’s WAC Tournament.
Unlike Hooten, Simon also has the experience at larger programs that Moccia has highlighted in previous hires. He was at UNLV from 2013-16 where his previous experience at Findlay Prep helped UNLV land high level recruits. He replaced Dave Rice as interim coach in 2016 and went 9-8. He was hired at Southern Utah in 2016, winning six games in 2016 and winning 23 games last year in the Big Sky before transitioning to the WAC this year.
Simon’s base salary is also potentially friendly for a buyout at $162,000. But his contract is through 2027 and incentive laden so NM State would have to make it worth his while.
Bruce Weber: Moccia was not the AD when Weber coached at Southern Illinois from 1998-2003, but Weber was the coach at SIU while current Aggies football coach Jerry Kill was there.
Like Kill, Weber fits the mold of what Moccia described as a disciplinarian type figure who has won at the highest level.
Weber has 497 career wins and a Final Four appearance at Illinois. He was the head coach at Kansas State from 2012-22, where he went to the NCAA Tournament five times and again overlapped with Kill, who was at K-State as Association AD in 2016.
The other names on this list would be considerably more affordable, but Weber would be an incredible hire if he was interested.
Dave Pilipovich, UNM special assistant to the head coach: Pilipovich has ties to Gregg Popovich and eight years experience as a head coach.
Pilipovich had a losing record at Air Force Academy from 2012-2020, but he could be an solid hire with experience in the region who would run a clean program and serve as a stop gap if nothing else. The question is would Moccia look to hire someone affiliated with rival UNM, although he has never hid the fact that he also worked at UNM.
He handles scouting at UNM, as well as from 2021-22 with the Austin Spurs in the G League.
Hiring a quality staff would be a must for Pilipovich, but after starting his career at Florida Atlantic in 1988 with multiple stops, including at Michigan, he would likely have the relationships to build a quality staff.
Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @jpgroves.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico State basketball search: Five names who would fit in Las Cruces
