New Mexico State University Basketball History
The New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team has a rich and storied history, representing New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, since its establishment in 1904. The Aggies currently compete in Conference USA, marking a new chapter after an 18-season stint in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) from 2005 to 2023. Throughout their history, NMSU Basketball has achieved significant success, including reaching the NCAA Final Four in 1970 and the Sweet Sixteen in 1992, alongside 26 NCAA tournament appearances.
Early Years and the Jerry Hines Era
In the early years, Jerry Hines was an outstanding two-sport athlete, the head basketball and head football coach, and the athletic director, who significantly influenced the program. During the later 1930s, the Aggie football team was 31-10-6 and the basketball team was 102-36 under Hines. The Aggie basketball team went to several postseason tournaments during this time, including the 1938 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament, and the 1939 National Invitation Tournament in New York City. The Hines era ended at the onset of World War II when he was called to duty in September 1940 as a member of a New Mexico National Guard unit assigned to the 45 Infantry Division.
The Lou Henson Era: A Golden Age
Lou Henson, who himself played for the Aggies in the 1950s, coached at Las Cruces High School, and came from Hardin-Simmons University, returned to his alma mater to become the head coach. His tenure was the most successful in Aggie history. A Lou Henson-coached team gained national attention during the 1970 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament by advancing to the Final Four. Henson led the Aggies to the NCAA tournament in six of his nine years. Henson began his coaching career with the Aggies in 1966, eventually coaching the Aggies to 289 victories over 17 years. Henson finished with 779 victories including his wins at Illinois. Henson coached the Aggies to the Final Four and two Sweet Sixteens among the 10 NCAA tournament appearances.
The Neil McCarthy Era: Success and Scandal
Neil McCarthy came to Las Cruces in 1985 following a successful 10-year run at Weber State. He had built Weber State into a regional power and was equally successful at New Mexico State. For most of McCarthy's tenure, the Aggies were the second-best team in the Big West, behind UNLV. In 1992, a Neil McCarthy-coached team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
However, the 1992 Sweet Sixteen run, along with two other NCAA runs in the early 1990s, was scrubbed from the books in 1996 when the NCAA found several players from that team received help on correspondence courses from a coach. In 2000, the Aggies were rocked again by a scandal from the McCarthy era. McCarthy had promised to hire a junior college coach as an assistant coach in return for bringing two of his top players to Las Cruces. That coach, Fletcher Cockrell, helped the two players with coursework and exams. The school placed the basketball program on two years' probation and withdrew from postseason consideration during the 2000-01 season. The NCAA imposed an additional four years' probation and forced the Aggies to vacate McCarthy's last season and the first season of Henson's second stint. The McCarthy era came to a sudden and abrupt end just weeks before the 1997-98 season when new athletic director Jim Paul stripped him of coaching duties, citing the team's poor academic performance.
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Henson's Return and Transition
Henson was lured from retirement to coach the team on an interim basis for the 1997-98 season after McCarthy's ouster. Henson continued to coach the Aggies until being sidelined by non-Hodgkin lymphoma prior to the 2004-05 season. Due to Henson's illness the Aggies were led that year by assistant coach Tony Stubblefield, who guided the squad to a dismal 6-24 record, by far the school's worst season in twenty years.
The Theus and Menzies Years
On March 31, 2005, NMSU hired 13-year NBA veteran Reggie Theus, then an assistant at Louisville under Rick Pitino, as head men's basketball coach. In his first season, Theus turned the Aggies from a 6-24 squad in 2004-05 to a 16-14 team in the 2005-06 season as the Aggies moved from the Sun Belt Conference to the Western Athletic Conference. In Theus's second year the Aggies finished the regular season at 22-8, won the WAC Tournament on their home floor, and earn an automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA tournament.
Marvin Menzies was named as Theus' successor, and like Theus before him, came to NMSU after having been an assistant to Pitino and had no previous Division I head coaching experience. In 2010 the Aggies again won the WAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament, falling 70-67 in the first round to eventual Final Four participant Michigan State. In 2012 the Aggies once again advanced to the NCAA tournament by winning the WAC Tournament for the third time in six seasons. They continued to appear in the NCAA tournament through 2015.
The Weir and Jans Eras
Paul Weir served in the role of associate head coach from July 2011 until he was promoted to head coach on April 26, 2016. He helped the Aggies to five WAC Tournament Championships (2010, 2012-2015) and five NCAA tournament appearances. The Aggies have collected three WAC Championships during Weir's tenure. The Aggies have won back-to-back WAC regular season titles in 2015 and 2016 after collecting their first WAC regular season title in 2008.
Former Bowling Green head coach Chris Jans was named the new head coach of the Aggies on April 17, 2017. He had been serving in an administrative role at Wichita State after being fired from BGSU in 2015 and was promoted to associate head coach of the Shockers just 4 days prior to being hired by NMSU. In his first season at NMSU, The Aggies won 28 games for the second year in a row, and won both the WAC regular season title and conference championship to advance to the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Clemson in the first round. In 2022 New Mexico State won a first round NCAA tournament game against University of Connecticut, before losing to Arkansas.
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Recent Times
Greg Heiar was named the head coach of the Aggies on March 28, 2022. He was formerly the head coach at Northwest Florida State College, where he won the 2022 NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. On February 10th, New Mexico State University suspended operations for the entire basketball program due to new unknown allegations. All coaches were placed on paid administrative leave. On February 14, 2023, Greg Heiar was fired as NMSU Aggies basketball coach amid athlete hazing investigation.
Ring of Honor
New Mexico State's men's basketball Ring of Honor stands as a tribute to individual players and coaches that are distinguished as Aggie legends. A player's number is retired upon reaching this milestone. Those honored include:
- Lou Henson - began his coaching career with the Aggies in 1966, eventually coaching the Aggies to 289 victories over 17 years. Henson finished with 779 victories including his wins at Illinois. Henson coached the Aggies to the Final Four and two Sweet Sixteens among the 10 NCAA tournament appearances.
- Sam Lacey (#44) - played for the Aggies from 1967 to 1970, including a trip to the Final Four. Lacey is 11th in Aggie all-time scoring and holds most rebounding records.
- Billy Joe Price (#31) - played from 1957 to 1961, including two trips to the NCAA tournament.
- Jimmy Collins (#22) - played for the Aggies from 1967 to 1970 and helped them to the Final Four in 1970. Collins holds the Aggie season scoring record and rank 3rd all-time in career scoring.
- John Williamson (#24) - is the most prolific scorer in Aggie history, averaging over 27 points per game during the 1971-72 and 1972-73 seasons. Williamson played for the New York/New Jersey Nets and won two ABA championships.
- Jerry Hines - was the Aggie basketball coach, as well as football coach, during the 1930s. The Aggies advanced to the NIT Tournament in 1938.
1000 Point Club
The 1000 Point Club consists of Aggies who have eclipsed 1000 points scored in their career. This is a notable accomplishment in college basketball.
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