The new University of New Mexico basketball head coach, Craig Neal, gets emotional as he talks about his predecessor and friend, Steve Alford, during a press conference in the Pit on Wednesday, April 3, 2013.

Is he Ralph Houk, or Phil Bengtson? George Seifert, or Craig Esherick? Mark Few, or Jim Dooley?

In Craig Neal’s case, lots of things point to him being a Houk, a Seifert or a Few — a career assistant, succeeding a successful head coach in the same organization, who succeeds.

Yet, until the navigator becomes the pilot, there’s no way to know how good he really is at flying the plane.

Some people are head coaches, some aren’t.

Wednesday afternoon, amid an atmosphere so jubilant as to be almost giddy, Neal was introduced at a combination news conference/pep rally as the University of New Mexico’s 20th men’s basketball head coach. Virtually everyone, including Neal — drawing one of many laughs during the news conference — has pronounced it a terrific decision.

It’s one that certainly makes sense.

For nine seasons, the past six at UNM, Neal has been coach Steve Alford’s lead assistant. Last week, after compiling a 155-52 record that included four Mountain West Conference regular-season championships (shared or outright) and the past two MWC tournament titles, Alford announced he was leaving for UCLA.

Alford’s final game at New Mexico was an embarrassing and discouraging loss to Harvard in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64, tarnishing his Lobo legacy. Nevertheless, he left having molded the program into a consistent winner.

For athletic director Paul Krebs and UNM President Bob Frank, the prudent course of action might have been to attend this weekend’s Final Four and identify multiple candidates. Certainly, considering the solid foundation Alford had built, there could be no shortage of those — including some experienced, established head coaches.

Meanwhile, though, the groundswell for Neal was growing faster than a scrawny kid nicknamed “Noodles” back in Washington, Ind., some 30 years ago.

Players were saying they might transfer if Noodles didn’t get the job. Signed and unsigned recruits were hedging. Boosters and politicians were jumping with their considerable weight onto the Neal bandwagon.

If Krebs and Frank didn’t act quickly, Neal almost certainly would follow Alford to UCLA and continue their coaching partnership. That wouldn’t play well with the growing pro-Neal forces.

Wednesday, Krebs said he was well aware of all those pressures. But, he said, Neal’s hiring was in no way a concession to them.

Neal, he said, was the right guy for the job — period.

“At every turn, (there was) just tremendous support for his ability and knowledge as a coach,” Krebs said.

Alford, Krebs said, had turned over some typical head-coaching responsibilities to Neal. A proven recruiter, Neal repeatedly flashed his people skills at Wednesday’s news conference. He probably could sell Apple computers to Samsung, or vice versa.

Nor is Neal’s basketball acumen disputed; many would tell you he’s Alford’s superior in the X’s and O’s department, described by Krebs as having an unofficial Ph.D. in hoops.

Still, even if Alford didn’t know a back screen from a silk screen — he does — the past six New Mexico teams have reflected his personality: toughness, tinged with arrogance. That was Alford’s, and the program’s, signature.

What will Neal’s signature be? Will players like him as much as the head coach as they did as an assistant?

Neal said he won’t stray far from the blueprint that was so successful the past six years, but also said he’ll tweak some things. He’s his own man, he said, not a taller Steve Alford with a less-precise hairstylist. Will those changes make the Lobos better, or is he about to mess with success?

Krebs, Frank and those who clamored for Neal to get the job are hoping their guy is the antidote to the Lobos’ generally disappointing performances in the NCAA Tournament.

First, Noodles has to get them there.
— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal