Fired Aggies basketball coach gets hired at Missouri junior college

Former New Mexico State University men’s basketball coach Greg Heiar has a new coaching gig.

Mineral Area College, a junior college in Park Hills, Missouri, announced Heiar as the new coach of the Cardinals in Saturday morning news release.

Heiar is the former New Mexico State men’s basketball coach who was fired in February after less than a year on the job amid a season of chaos, off-court drama and on-court struggles.

The news release stated:

“Heiar’s lengthy career has not been without controversy, but (Athletic Director Jim) Gerwitz said the hiring committee carefully considered the entirety of Coach Heiar’s college coaching career, contacted past administrators, and received overwhelmingly positive feedback regarding his ability to develop student-athletes, promote success both in the classroom and on the court, and create a championship culture that will provide a springboard for players to be successful at Mineral Area College and beyond.”

The Journal reached out to New Mexico State AD Mario Moccia, who confirmed by text that he was contacted by Mineral Area College. But he did not elaborate beyond that as of deadline.

The press release mentions Heiar being the 2022 National Junior College Coach of the Year when leading Northwest Florida College to a national title. His stint at New Mexico State is only mentioned in a list of all his jobs over a 20-year career, though it was the only Division I head coaching job he held.

Heiar drew scrutiny in his only season at NMSU for handling of player discipline and a culture that led to numerous high-profile incidents:

• Several of his players were involved in an October brawl at a football game on NMSU’s campus;

• One of those players snuck out of a team hotel in Albuquerque the morning of a Nov. 19 rivalry game with UNM to meet up with a 17-year old girl and instead was ambushed by a UNM student believed to be involved in the October brawl. The Aggie player Michael Peake was shot in the leg and Peake also shot and killed the UNM student in self defense, police said. Several other Aggies players who had also snuck out of the team hotel and were at a nearby house came to take their teammate’s gun from the scene. Police say Heiar, other coaches and the players were very uncooperative in the ensuing investigation.

• In February, two Aggies players accused three older teammates of months-long hazing and sexual assault that they say they told coaches about and it never was resolved.

• Heiar was fired, with cause, in February and the Aggies season was canceled as a result of the hazing scandal. School officials have said Heiar has never sat down to be interviewed in their internal investigations into the matter.

• The State of New Mexico this past week settled a lawsuit stemming from those hazing and sexual assault accusations for $8 million.

In that settlement, Heiar was absolved from civil liability. His attorney declared it a great day for Heiar who wanted to resume coaching.

“My family and I look forward to being a part of this great institution and community,” Heiar said in the news release. “Now it’s time to get started building a championship team!”