Lobo hoops notebook: Catching up on player and staff updates, checking in on buyouts, and more

He hasn’t yet played a game for the Lobos, but he’s already in the running for the best name in the Mountain West.

Friday, UNM gave the “let’s make it official” treatment to the signing of 6-foot-4 freshman guard Sir Marius Jones from Sacramento (California) High School.

Jones made his commitment public on May 14.

In Friday’s announcement confirming his signing, first-year UNM Lobo coach Eric Olen lauded Jones’ versatility on offense and ability to play both ends of the floor.

“We are thrilled to welcome Sir Marius to our program,” Olen said. “His ability to play on and off the ball makes him a great fit for our system. He’s a playmaker on both sides of the ball and has a bright future as a Lobo.”

Jones — who originally had committed to UC Irvine but switched to UNM following Lobos assistant coach Michael Wilder, who was a longtime assistant at UC Irvine — was a third-team all-state selection this past season. He averaged 20.9 points as a senior and 21.0 as a junior and finished his high school playing career with more than 1,600 points.

UNM’s three incoming freshmen all filled it up in their prep careers. In addition to Jones’ 1,600 points (exact number isn’t available, other than he did pass 1,600), guard Jake Hall scored 3,106 points at Carlsbad (California) High School and Uriah Tennette scored 2,752 points at Prescott (Arizona) High School.

Jones told the Journal in mid-May he appreciated the faith showed in his ability by both Wilder and UNM assistant Sam Stapleton, who also recruited Jones when coaching at UC San Diego.

As for his new team, he says he’s looking forward to being a part of Olen’s system.

“I feel like the coaching style that Coach Olen has is the perfect fit for my playing style,” said Jones. “It will allow me to use every strength that I have and I will be able to play freely.”

Buy and buy: Buyouts are often big talking points when a coach is hired, fired or leaving a program.

Rarely are they brought up when actually paid off.

In the case of Olen, his $150,000 buyout at UC San Diego was written into his UNM contract.

The university paid that off in early May.

As for recently departed Lobos coach Richard Pitino, his buyout of $375,000 for his breaking his contract to take the job at Xavier University, he paid that off in May as well, UNM confirmed to the Journal.

While there was a net gain in the two buyouts of $225,000 — receiving Pitino’s $375,000 and paying out Olen’s $150,000 — UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo said a good amount of that was eaten up in search for the new coach, travel expenses for multiple interviews of candidates and moving expenses for the new staff that was hired.

Two more on staff: UNM’s new strength and conditioning coach, who is expected to start work this coming week, is very familiar with the Mountain West.

Charisse Williams has most recently worked at UNLV as assistant director of strength & conditioning, specifically working with the women’s basketball and women’s soccer teams.

And while he’s actually been on board since mid-April, there was never a formal announcement from UNM, or any announcement by the Journal, of graduate assistant coach Jonah Simental, who followed Olen over from UC San Diego.

Simental earned a BA from UCSD in 2024 while a team manager and served this past season as a graduate assistant coach, a position he will also have at UNM.

Going camping?: The Eric Olen kids camp will be June 23-26, 9 a.m. through 3 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 9 a.m. to noon on the Thursday of that week.

It’s open to boys and girls, 1st through 8th grade. More information is available at EricOlenBasketballCamps.totalcamps.com or by emailing assistant coach Michael Wilder at mwilder2@unm.edu.

Three degrees: Recent Lobo senior players Nelly Junior Joseph, Mustapha Amzil and C.J. Noland each walked at the early May graduation ceremony in the Pit and earned degrees from UNM.