After one of the more storied NCAA Tournament runs in New Mexico basketball history last season under now Xavier head coach Richard Pitino, fans in Albuquerque, New Mexico, were not sure what the future would hold with a new head coach, who was to be hired by a new athletic director and paired alongside a new football coach.
Competitive basketball in Albuquerque is a must. Even as Lobo fans are being treated to what may be the most successful football season in a little under a decade.
Still, basketball must work in Albuquerque. And for fans weary and a tad scarred from past coaching changes, first-year athletic director Fernando Lovo has seemed to hit it out of the park not once but twice this year with first-year head coach Eric Olen.
The now 45-year-old Olen wasn’t new to the title when he arrived in the Duke City in the spring. Having spent 21 years at UC San Diego in multiple capacities, including 12 as head coach. Olen, of course, guided that program from their time as a Division-II power to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance at the Division-I level last season, where they pushed No. 5 Michigan to the brink in the opening round.
Many thought it might take some time to get the Lobo program back to its winning ways. Assuming the rebuild would resemble Olen’s four-year build-up to last season’s Triton squad. Which would be understandable, especially after wiping the slate completely clean and bringing back zero players or staff members from last year’s squad.
I mean, Pitino is going to rank right up there with Steve Alford as one of the best New Mexico coaches in the 21st century. But it took Pitino a few years before New Mexico was challenging for conference titles again.
Luckily for fans and onlookers, New Mexico has enjoyed a tremendous first non-conference season under Olen. One that has them near the top of plenty of power rankings out there, as well as being considered maybe the second-best start to the season for a first-year head coach in Lobo history — at least according to the Albuquerque Journal’s Geoff Grammer.
The New Mexico Lobos ended their non-conference portion of their schedule with a more than respectable 9-2 record. Including a perfect 7-0 record at home, with a few narrow escapes. Along with a 2-2 split in road/neutral games. Also included in that are a quad one and a quad two win over VCU and Santa Clara.
Now, nearing the onset of Mountain West Conference play (technically the last installment with this current iteration of membership), it’s a great place to stop and reflect a bit on what has worked so far and who has contributed to that success. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not thanks to the transfer portal, at least not fully.
If you’re like me, you’re usually monitoring each new commit your team gets during the offseason. Performing searches on each of the major recruiting sites, Division-II, III, NAIA and Juco rosters, expanding menus and drop-downs to see just how “Player A” performed against “(insert a state of your choice) School of Mines” back in December of last year.
Is it tedious, sometimes even inconsequential work? Of course, but name 10 better ways to spend your offseason. Family vacations, water parks in the summer? No, thank you.
In an offseason where Division-I transfers and top 100 recruits make the headlines, impact true freshmen are often overlooked in preseason hype material. Mainly because you can so seldom translate high school basketball experience and skills to the Division-I ranks.
For New Mexico, some of those headlining players included Bahamian National Team member Deyton Albury, Summit League Sixth Man of the Year Tajavis Miller, and USC transfer Kevin Patton Jr.
Yes, those players have filled their roles nicely thus far. Especially Albury, who was an All-Conference preseason selection back in October. The 6-foot-3-inch downhill specialist’s play, leadership and experience are invaluable to such a young team. Filling out his role nicely in the starting lineup alongside highly touted Juco All-American Antonio Chol and Swiss Army Knife Chris Howell, one of a few former Tritons who followed their head coach to Albuquerque.
But it’s been a surprising trio of freshmen who have helped lead the charge in Albuquerque this season. Bringing college basketball fans inside the Pit brings a sense of nostalgia for times when the focus wasn’t all on the transfer class.
This year’s freshmen class features six players in total. With two, Sir Marius Jones and Kallai Patton, not seeing any time on the floor thus far. While 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup darling Timeo Pons, who went viral on Lobo Twitter over the summer for dropping 12 points in 18 minutes on 3-3 shooting from deep against eventual Gold Medal winners Team USA in Switzerland, has seldom seen the floor.
That leaves our fabled trio of Jake Hall, Uriah Tenette, and Croatian import Tomislav Buljan. The first two players were originally a part of Olen’s 2025 recruiting class at UC San Diego. As mentioned prior, when researching both players across all major recruiting websites, it appeared as though Olen had certainly recruited a pair of steals to America’s Finest City*. *Trust me, I didn’t know that was San Diego’s nickname either.
Both had record-setting and award-winning high school careers. To go along with some entertaining basketball mixtapes. But when both prospects announced their intention to follow Coach Olen to New Mexico, I was unsure how their game would translate to possibly the highest level of Mid-Major basketball. Though that’s the beauty of it, you honestly never know when you’re on the outside looking in.
I don’t know about you, but I, for one, love surprises. Especially when it’s having three potential Freshman of the Year candidates in one locker room. Barring any player movement, it makes you excited for the future again. Reminiscent of a time when a talented freshman could blossom into a super sophomore or maybe even a supreme senior. Also reminiscent of a time when alliteration filled the ESPN airwaves.
To get to the point, Tomislav Buljan is one of college basketball’s interesting professional import cases. A 22-year-old freshman with multiple years of professional experience in Croatia’s top league and having represented his country at the FIBA U-20 level.
Buljan’s game has translated beautifully to Olen’s style of play. With great quickness, ball-handling ability, and touch around the rim. His offensive efficiency and nose for the ball had him averaging a double-double before an injury suffered against Florida Gulf Coast sent him to the locker room early, scoreless and boardless.
Still, his presence on the court has been invaluable. Just look at his 19-point, 21-rebound performance against Mississippi State in Kansas City, all in just 29 minutes on the floor. Buljan is also not afraid of throwing his body around, in the paint and on the floor. Making hustle plays, sometimes to his own detriment.
Now, for the backcourt, aside from two starts this season, Tenette has been an immediate spark off the bench. Bringing his energy to both sides of the ball, along with playmaking abilities that are much needed if Albury or Howell are off the floor. The generously listed 5-11 high flyer is also good for the occasional SportsCenter Top 10 highlight dunk, much needed when the normally ruckus Pit crowd goes dull from occasional lackluster play over lesser opponents.
Like his teammates, he shows no quit, even when trailing opponents. With his best game coming at home over Santa Clara a few weeks ago, logging a career high 15 points and dishing out three assists. Shooting a very clutch 54.5% from the floor.
Lastly, Jake Hall, the Carlsbad Bucket, is starring in his first season in Albuquerque. Currently leading the team in scoring at 14.2 PPG, with four 20+ point games in his freshman year. Tied for the most in program history, alongside Lobo legends Kenny Thomas, Charles Smith, and Phil Smith, some very good company.
While others have struggled to find their offensive rhythm, the 6-4 sniper has ignited New Mexico’s offense multiple times this season. Sparking a second-half comeback on the road against a top 50-ranked VCU squad, dropping 24 points on 9-15 shooting from the floor, including going 5-7 from deep.
To sum it up, Hall has a knack for scoring the ball. And he doesn’t let a lack of explosive athleticism, like say a Donovan Dent or Tru Washington, stop him either. His scoring is different but great, crafty, relentless, and more importantly, clutch.
As players expected to have bigger impacts take their time to get acclimated, having three college-ready, possibly all-conference-level freshmen on your roster will make any transition appear easy. I’m not sure anyone outside of the program could have predicted that nearly half (47.3%) of all scoring on this year’s team, along with a third (34.7%) of all assists, were going to come from true freshmen.
Yes, it makes offseason speculation, which is a fool’s game, that much more unpredictable. Which may be more fun anyway.
At the end of the day, it’s a joyful time for Albuquerque sports. Both revenue-generating programs appear to be in great hands. Even though this success can appear premature, it may also be a tad overshadowed by the success of a normally dismal Football team, basketball is still the show in town.
Now it’s time for Olen to truly impress Lobo fans and make a run towards a regular-season title.
If pulled off, Olen’s Lobos will become back-to-back Mountain West regular season champions. A feat that hasn’t been done since Steve Alford did it twice during his six-year tenure.
