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Richard Stevens: Faith in McKay's program slipping

By Richard Stevens
Tuesday, January 9, 2007

This tale of two Lobos coaches really has nothing to do with the 0-2 Mountain West Conference record they have in common.

It has nothing to do with the scramble to remove their teams from the basement of the MWC standings.

There is a double standard here, and it probably won't go away.

For Don Flanagan, the recent skid of his University of New Mexico women's basketball team is simply some fretting over this year's team.

Are these Lobos deep enough? Does Flanagan dip into his bench enough? Is he too controlling in holding back certain personalities and talent? Does he spend too much time coaching refs and not enough time coaching Lobos?

But do we expect the reputation and the tradition of this program - the coaching of Flanagan - to push the UNM women into the NCAA Tournament?

Heck, yes.

And if he misses the dance for the first time in five seasons, will we forgive him?

In a Pit minute.

For Ritchie McKay, things are different and probably always will be.

McKay was never accepted wholeheartedly into this community of Lobos. He might never be embraced like Flanagan or Rocky Long.

McKay was a question mark since Rudy Davalos, the former director of athletics, plucked McKay from the edges of obscurity and handed over the keys to The Pit.

The questions still linger, even grow.

McKay's 0-2 is identical to Flanagan's 0-2 in two ways. They both lost a league game on the road. They both lost a league game in The Pit.

But while the concern for the women is concentrated on the performance of a team, the concern for the men is aimed toward a program.

And toward a coach.

Part of McKay's problem always has been community perception. Davalos went out with big bucks in hand and brought back an unproven unknown with a r‚sum‚ filled more with failure than success.

It was a bad hire until McKay could prove it was not a bad hire.

So far, it still looks to be a bad hire.

The community support is fading. The Pit's attendance is awful. McKay's 2006-07 Lobos are an incomplete team whose only realistic shot at making the NCAA Tournament appears to be winning the Mountain West tournament.

And next year's team looks to be much the same - a team weak at the point and weak inside.

If you look at the status of McKay's Lobos in his fifth year, the message toward his future is ominous. He has run off too much talent and brought in too little.

In his fifth season, he has recorded two of the more embarrassing losses in UNM history - to New Mexico State on the road and to Colorado State in The Pit.

But maybe the bottom line for McKay's future has nothing to do with wins and losses, the expectation of future teams or the results tonight at Air Force.

Maybe the answer is in The Pit.

There are simply too many empty seats, too much promise of revenue not reaching its potential.

With Flanagan, we can look the other way. McKay does not have the same luxury, the same history.

And if McKay doesn't soon recapture the faith of The Pit, he will soon lose the faith of the UNM administration.