MOULTON: Where does UNM athletics go from here?
UNM’s Donovan Dent shoots a free throw against UNLV on March 7 in The Pit. With the 81-67 victory over the Runnin’ Rebels, the Lobos won the Mountain Conference regular season championship outright. Erik Moulton/The Pit Press
The NCAA basketball transfer portal is open and will close on April 22 — a 30-day window shortened from 45 days a year ago.
In roughly 48 hours, more than 1,000 men’s basketball players have entered.
Meanwhile, the Sweet 16 hasn’t even tipped off yet and is set to begin on Thursday.
“The portal opening on Monday is the dumbest thing ever,” former UNM head men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino said. “There’s no logic behind it whatsoever. Why not do it in April because school doesn’t end until mid-May, so give them a month then.”
Sure, the timing is odd, but so is the system that allows it.
This isn’t to berate players or coaches who jump on the carousel and test the market for the next best suitor.
Who are we to blame them? If another job came forward and offered twice the salary, we’d all jump, too.
But what about the athletics departments and fans who are left gutted after their favorite players and coaches leap to a big power conference for a bigger (and more lucrative) opportunity?
Understandably, the money, boosters, and NIL pockets are much deeper at the power four level. They can afford to offer a successful mid-major coach twice the salary and more NIL infrastructure, more resources to build a successful team.
But when a coach decides to leave their current role, there’s usually a contract buyout involved - strictly business and for financial protection for the program.
When the NCAA bylaws changed in 2023-24, the Transfer Portal Exception rule was adopted. It allowed student-athletes to transfer and be “immediately eligible at their new school, whether they have transferred before” per NCAA Governance.
The rule removed any and all restrictions on how many times a player could transfer - a free market to the highest bidder.
Antitrust laws be what they may, it’s totally legal and beneficial for student athletes to market their services to programs willing to pay for their name, image, and likeness.
And what about all the investments (financially and emotionally), programs and fan bases made in the athletes and teams?
There are certainly contracts in place to protect the athletes in signing legitimate NIL deals, but is there protection for the athletic departments when a Power Four program prys away a smaller program’s best and most marketable player?
There is no buyout attached - no protection.
Definitely no regulating body.
Look around and pay attention. Mid-major conferences are being poached on. Stripped of all their most valuable pieces and getting nothing in return.
Conference realignment is also playing a pivotal role in it all. Power conferences are turning into super conferences and taking all the media-share revenue with it.
For example, did anyone realize that out of all the teams in the Sweet 16, all are from power conferences?
The SEC (seven), the Big Ten (four), the Big 12 (four), and the ACC (one).
No mid-majors, no Cinderella hopefuls, just the powers and the big brand names the NCAA caters to.
The SEC alone got an NCAA record 16 teams in the dance and several of them had losing conference records.
All of those teams (debatably) reached the tournament based on their schedule strength and overall records, but even the middle-tier power schools are loaded with cash and willing transfers from mid-major programs.
The gap between the Power 4 and the Group of 5 is widening, the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer.
Who’s to say what will and won’t happen with the Mountain West Conference and Pac-something, but it seems like they may be on the path of a dying breed if they don’t merge. Strength-in-numbers and regional rivalries are in the cards.
Maybe it’s more of an opinion by some, but the two conferences would be better positioned and stronger as one than two separate entities fighting for the same media rights.
However, this is not to say that New Mexico basketball (and other well supported mid-major programs) won’t survive in the new era of college sports, because they will. They’re rooted in passionate fan bases and committed collectives.
New Mexico has the support of one of the best NIL collectives at the mid-major level (and nationally for that matter) with Kurt Roth, Mackenzie Bishop and the 505 Sports Venture Foundation.
It’s even more imperative now that collectives strengthen their contributions to level the playing field with the power four programs.
To add another layer to the collective’s efforts, you can consider revenue-sharing being a game-changing piece. Effective this summer (possibly July 1st) schools will have the ability to share revenue with their student athletes. Under the NCAA’s new revenue-sharing rules, schools will be permitted to distribute a pool of revenue with their athletes ($20.5 million cap for the first year).
Power league programs have earmarked anywhere between $13 million to 16 million of that to their revenue-generating giant of football.
With UNM, the revenue-generating giant is basketball.
In a recent live-stream interview with 505 Sports Venture Foundation, Mackenzie Bishop, Bishop said that UNM plans to dedicate a big portion of that revenue-share budget to the men’s basketball program. However, they’re still encouraging supporters to contribute to the collective.
That gives them more operating leverage in trying to attract more high-level talent; certainly an advantage over some of the other power basketball programs.
The bedrock of UNM Athletics is being reset and elevated by the administration leadership of Fernando Lovo and Ryan Berryman. Two forward-thinking, and financially savvy leaders who surely know how to navigate these Rocky Mountains.
The fan base is strong, deep, and loyal - it is what makes New Mexico Athletics what it is.
The battle to stay relevant and be in contention to make the NCAA Tournament and win in it is more challenging than ever in today's college sports climate.
But worry not Lobo fans, although the coaching and player departures are gut punches now, the future and stability of the UNM Athletic Department is in a better position than we think.
