Lobo hoops notebook: Nelly signs with French pro league; news on two more preseason events

Nelly Junior Joseph is off to France.

The former UNM Lobo center and first team All-Mountain West selection announced on Wednesday he has signed a professional contract with SIG Strasbourg, a professional team in Strasbourg, France, that plays in the French Pro A League.

“Nelly is a player with great potential,” SIG Strasbourg sporting director Nicola Alberani said in a news release posted on the team’s website in French and translated to English.

“He’s a recruit who perfectly fits the vision we have for our frontcourt. All our frontcourt players have the right profiles to deliver effective basketball. They’re intelligent, strong, and know how to move the ball. Nelly fits these criteria perfectly. We believe he still has plenty of room for improvement and we look forward to supporting his development over the coming months.”

Joseph, a 6-foot-10 native of Nigeria who played five seasons of college basketball — three for Rick Pitino at Iona then the past two at UNM for Richard Pitino — most recently played in the NBA Summer League for the Atlanta Hawks.

This past season at UNM, Joseph started all 35 games for the Lobos and averaged 14.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocked shots and 1.3 steals per game.

After the season, Junior Joseph played well in the NABC Reese’s College All-Star Game played at the Final Four, was MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in front of domestic and international scouts and started three of five games for the Hawks in Summer League, again fairing well in each game, especially on defense.

SIG Strasbourg finished 12th in the 16-team league this past season. The team generally starts its season in late September.

Don’t look

While UNM made public on Tuesday their Oct. 30 home exhibition game with Northern Arizona in the Pit — the first time fans can see the entirely new roster first-year head coach Eric Olen has assembled play against another team — that is only one of two NCAA-allowed preseason contests.

But don’t expect to see the other.

The Lobos’ second preseason game this fall will be a closed-door scrimmage against Santa Clara, a team UNM beat last season 77-75 in a closed-to-the-public scrimmage in the Pit on Oct. 19.

The NCAA allows two preseason contests against Division I teams each year — either in a regular 40-minute, open to the public, exhibition game played by normal rules, or a closed-door scrimmage that both teams are free to score, take stats and talk about afterward if they choose, but are under no obligation to do so and can set up special game scenarios to work on or play more, or less, than the usual 40 minutes.

OK, look

UNM is expecting a return of the preseason Lobo Howl event this fall with both the men’s and women’s teams participating.

Odds & Ends

• The second of the summer is next week in the Pit.

The three and a half day camp — Monday through Thursday afternoon — is open to boys and girls. For more information, contact assistant coach Michael Wilder at mwilder@unm.edu.

Season tickets renewals for Lobo basketball are underway with information available online at golobos.com/mbbrenew25

There is no change in pricing for the coming season for men’s basketball.