Lobo hoops notebook: Coaching staff following Pitino to Xavier, another Lobo hops in transfer portal

Richard Pitino’s office in the Rudy Davalos Center is cleaned out and soon so will the offices of the entire Lobo coaching staff.

All four assistant coaches — Isaac Chew, Tarvish Felton, Aaron Katsuma and Dave Pilipovich — along with director of operations Peyton Stephens and video coordinator Danny Walters will be following Pitino to Cincinnati to work at Xavier.

Chew, however, is one of the top candidates to fill Pitino’s vacancy — a hire that would help with some player retention as the associate head coach was the primary recruiting coordinator in all four seasons with Pitino.

All of the coaches have contracts that run through March 31, though will likely be leaving before then to start on recruiting for the Musketeers.

The four assistant coaches had a combined salary this season of $690,000 — a figure that would have increased in the offer UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo made to Pitino to stay with the program. The Journal has not been able to confirm how much that salary pool for assistant coaches was to increase or what it may be for the next head coach.

Pitino confirmed to the Journal on Wednesday that he had completed all player postseason meetings on Tuesday as though he was returning as UNM coach. He was offered, and accepted, the Xavier job Tuesday night.

He talked again with all his players, including Donovan Dent and Tru Washington who entered the transfer portal on Tuesday morning, after taking the job to let them know he and the staff would continue to help them in any way in the future.

He said he has not had any conversations with any current Lobo about following him to play at Xavier.

COMING UP: Pitino is scheduled to join the Journal in a podcast recording Thursday morning to talk about his time at UNM and his decision to leave.

The Talking Grammer podcast is expected to be available to watch on the Journal’s YouTube page or heard wherever you download podcasts by early afternoon.

Links to the podcast will also be available on ABQJournal.com.

THE SEARCH: Lovo has hired Parker Executive Search, the Atlanta-based search firm used by UNM when to find a new athletics director in November, to complete the background checks on all men’s basketball coaching candidates.

Lovo and members of the athletic department’s leadership team are handling all other aspects of the search.

The Journal has requested a copy of the search firm contract but that has not yet been released.

Lovo, who started as UNM’s athletic director on Dec. 1, is conducting his second high-profile national coaching search in his first 120 days on the job, having hired Jason Eck as the school’s football coach in December.

PORTALING: Lobo freshman walk-on guard Dylan Chavez on Wednesday announced he has entered the NCAA transfer portal, becoming the fifth Lobo to publicly do so.

Chavez, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from La Cueva High School, redshirted this season and has four years of eligibility remaining.

He joins Dent, Washington, Quinton Webb and Shane Douma-Sanchez in the portal.