UNM hires Eric Olen as new Lobo basketball coach

New Mexico men’s basketball has a new coach.

Eric Olen, longtime coach at the University of California San Diego and one of college basketball’s rising coaching stars, on Sunday accepted the head coaching position at the University of New Mexico — home of the Pit and one of the country’s most passionate and demanding fan bases.

“Honestly, that’s some of what drew me to to New Mexico and to this program, is the passion of the fan base, is the expectations. We welcome that. We want that,” Olen told the Journal in a podcast interview.

“No one is ever going to have higher expectations for what our team is going to do or our program is going to do than I am. So, we welcome the expectations, and we expect to meet or exceed them. That’s our job.”

Olen, 44, led UC San Diego to 30 wins and an NCAA Tournament berth in its first season of eligibility as a Division I member this past season. He’ll take over the position vacated Tuesday when Richard Pitino left to coach at Xavier University.

UNM and Olen agreed on a five-year contract, though more specific financial terms have not yet been released. An introductory press conference is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday with Olen flying to Albuquerque on Monday.

Olen said he plans to meet with Lobo players when he arrives and will announce staff hires as early as Monday.

UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo posted a photo on social media Sunday morning showing a smoke stack releasing cherry and silver smoke — a sign that a hire had been made. Lovo soon confirmed Olen’s hiring to the Journal.

“Eric is a proven winner with an incredible track record,” Lovo said in a university news release sent out at 11 a.m. Sunday. “Beyond the accolades and success on the court, he is a values-driven leader who puts student-athletes first. We’re confident he’ll bring tremendous energy and vision to our program.

“Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Eric, his wife Lauren, and their daughters, Avery and Madeline — we’re excited to have them join the Lobo family here in Albuquerque.”

Olen, originally from Mobile, Alabama, played NAIA college basketball at Springhill College in Mobile (it has since transitioned to Division II).

In 2004, his college coach asked him if he wanted to move to California to be an assistant coach for him at UC San Diego, then a D-II school.

Though coaching wasn’t on Olen’s radar, he was 24 and the idea of moving to the beach sounded like a good idea.

“I got to San Diego and just realized, for me, a lot of it was just kind of being back in the gym, being back part of a team — I really value being part of something bigger than yourself,” he said. “And I just think it gives me a ton of purpose every day to show up and come to work. And it’s kind of that thing, if you love what you’re doing, you never work a day in your life. And I think I realized that right away, ‘Hey, this coaching thing, is better than a real job.’ And so I kind of dove all in.”

He’s been at UC San Diego ever since, taking over as head coach in 2013. The school began to transition to D-I status in the 2020-21 season.

Olen led the Tritons to four consecutive D-II NCAA Tournaments from 2016-2019 and it would have been five had COVID not led to the cancellation of the 2020 tournament when he had a 30-1 team that was considered by some the favorite to win the D-II national championship that season.

The NCAA doesn’t allow D-II schools transitioning to D-I to play in the postseason for four years, making this the first season the Tritons were eligible for the D-I Big Dance. His team went 30-5, won the Big West regular season and tournament titles, he was named for the second time Big West Coach of the Year and UCSD was one basket away from beating No. 5 Michigan in the opening round, losing 68-65.

His team nearly beat San Diego State on opening night this season and beat Utah State in Logan in December. Both teams are members of the Mountain West.

With this past season’s success, Olen’s stock skyrocketed.

UCSD had a high NCAA NET ranking of 34 this season and a high KenPom ranking of 35, both higher than any Mountain West team despite the Mountain West being ranked the sixth best (of 31) conferences and the Big West ranking 12th. UNM’s highs this season were 36 in NET and 35 in KenPom.

Three other schools made the D-II to D-I transition in 2020. Their NET rankings this season were nowhere near UCSD’s: Bellarmine (351 NET), Utah Tech (309) and Tarleton State (302).

Both of Olen’s offensive and defensive schemes — a five-man out offense and a matchup zone defense, though one utilized more due to personnel than anything this season — have gained praise over the past season as innovative. The Tritons started four D-II transfers and no player was taller than 6-foot-8 this season.

He’ll ostensibly bring some of those schemes to Albuquerque, to showcase in front 15,000 fans in the Pit some nights.

It’ll be a far different environment from coaching in LinoTree Arena, where an average of 2,143 fans showed up to watch Triton men’s basketball games in a building UCSD describes as its Recreation, Intramural and Athletic Complex.

“Hey, that 2,100, we built it up to that, too,” Olen said with pride. “We got it going.”

Olen has a career record of 240-119 at UCSD and is the back-to-back winner of Big West Coach of the Year.

Pitino, named MW Coach of the Year, guided the Lobos to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament — winning the conference tournament in 2024 and this season winning the MW regular season — the team’s first time in the Big Dance since 2014. The Lobos entered this year’s tournament as a 10 seed, beating No. 7 Marquette in the first round before losing to No. 2 Michigan State in the second round, finishing with a record of 27-8.

In four years, Pitino was 88-49 at UNM.

Lovo ran a national search for his replacement that narrowed its focus in recent days, eventually landing on Olen. Albuquerque native and NBA assistant James Borrego withdrew from consideration on Friday and the search focused Saturday on Olen and veteran UAB coach Andy Kennedy.