Summer school: With Eric Olen's new-look Lobos finally together, the crash course begins

Most of the world might not even notice it, but there's a different twinkle in new UNM Lobo basketball coach Eric Olen's eyes lately.

He's been reunited with his two loves.

First, his family — wife, Lauren, and daughters Avery and Madeline — finally moved with him to Albuquerque, from their home 770 miles west of here, after the girls' first and third grade school years ended in late May.

And second, the man who most of the college basketball world last saw walking off a court in Denver in mid-March as the head coach of the UC San Diego Tritons, a one-bucket-at-the-buzzer loser to No. 5 Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, for the first time eight days ago, was able to coach basketball again.

"It was a completely new experience," said Olen, who's recruited an entirely new roster and nearly an entirely new coaching and support staff (just the athletic trainer, Grant Smith, returned from last season), since taking over for the former-head coach Richard Pitino.

"It's the longest stretch of my professional career without a basketball practice or workout or any of the above. So yeah, it was very different."

It wasn't as though he wasn't busy, but a girl-dad missing his daughters, and a basketball coach with nobody to coach, can be painful.

Tuesday, he was more than happy to show off for the first time to local media most of that new roster in a practice of 12 of the 14 new Lobos who will be taking the court for the start of the Olen era this fall.

"Obviously, we had plenty to do (the past few months)," Olen said. "It just didn't involve being on the court, which was a big adjustment. So last week (when the players arrived in Albuquerque) was great, like it was fun to get back on the court, to have guys here, to start to build, although slow, but just starting the process has been enjoyable. ... It was something I haven't experienced before. But we're through that part, and we're in the gym now, and we're excited to be there."

The open session of Tuesday's practice was just 30 minutes as players and coaches who are still very much getting to know each other, a new system and new practice drills.

Evaluation was limited for the group of untrained media eyes to read too much into, but the Journal will get those details in Episode 109 of the Talking Grammer podcast, which is scheduled to post Wednesday morning on the Journal's YouTube channel or wherever you listen to podcasts.

All but two

Twelve new Lobos hit the court over the past week, learning a new system, new coach, new teammates, all at a new school in a new state.

Two more will join them soon. Or, at least, that's the hope of Olen and the team.

Tomislav Buljan, a 6-foot-9 center from Croatia, is awaiting student visa issues — as are hundreds of other international college athletes across the country — before he can get to the United States, and when he does arrive, he'll also be awaiting clearance from the NCAA on his eligibility since he played in a professional league overseas.

And 6-8 Timéo Pons remains in his home country where he's part of the camp trying out for the France U19 national team that will be competing starting next week in the FIBA U19 World Cup. Pons, with no eligibility questions to answer, will try to get to the United States soon after.

Both, however, have signed scholarship papers with the Lobos and Olen is able to talk them.

"(The) timeline, it's all out of our control at the moment," Olen said. "So we're just sort of waiting through the student visa situation. ... Every school in the country that has international players, not just specific to basketball, is working through that."

UNM's new track stars?

As part of their summer conditioning, the Lobos gathered Tuesday morning at the Great Friends of UNM Track Stadium to get timed in the mile.

And the national-championship performances last week of their fellow Lobo athletes Pamela Koosgei (5,000 and 10,000 meters) and Ishmael Kipkurui (10,000 meters) as well as the runner up finishes of Habtom Samuel (5,000 and 10,000 meters) were well on the minds of new basketball players.

"We were talking about (how the Lobo track stars did at last week's NCAA Championship) that walking up. That was amazing," said Lobo guard Chris Howell, a 6-6 transfer guard from UC San Diego. "Nobody thought we were going to be on that level, but even right before we took off running, all of us were just clapping, like 'We're in this together! We're in this together!'"

And what about that thin Albuquerque air many were experiencing for the first time.

"It was pretty thin," Howell said with a telling smile. "But it was good. We got through it as a team."

Howell noted that before Tuesday's mile, he already had his welcome to mile high training moment.

"First day (of practice last week), I looked at coach Olen, I was like, 'The air is thin up here, for sure,'" Howell said. "... It's an adjustment, something you have to take into consideration, but I'm even looking further in the future to when teams come play us here. I'm excited to see how that's going to be — us getting the edge on them."

Everyone's watching

Olen said one of the main reasons he took the UNM job was the opportunity to coach a program with a fan base so invested in the team.

He's learning more and more every day exactly how invested this community can be.

Last month, at a Starbucks with his wife, when his order was ready, he realized the barista didn't exactly write "ERIC" on the cup. But it wasn't the usual mishap that often happens at Starbucks where they get the name wrong.

No, they knew exactly who Olen was.

"Instead of putting my name on the cup, he wrote, 'Are we going to take another big in this class?' On my Starbucks cup," Olen told national college basketball reporter Jeff Goodman on the Field of 68 podcast this past week. "... Everybody's paying attention here. That's a cool moment. It's fun to have and it's the reason we're out here."

Chemistry building

Howell played his first two years at Saint Mary's before returning to the San Diego area to play for Olen and his brother, assistant coach Mikey Howell, who is now on the UNM staff as well.

As one of the players who knows the system, he has taken a lot of responsibility on himself to help usher in the new era at UNM as smoothly as he can.

That includes facilitating team bonding and being a leader in the locker room.

"We have bunch of guys (who) are capable to do that, but I know for myself that's something I really take pride in, and just leading the guys, being able to just bring everything together, like even just off the court," Howell said.

"The other day, my first church service out here, two of the freshmen, Jake Hall and Uriah (Tenette) came with me. So something as simple as that, being able to unify the guys. ... We have a bunch of guys that know how to lead. I think leading together and being able to just put it all together is the biggest thing."