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The Alford file
Who: Stephen "Steve" Todd Alford
What: Expected to be named the University of New Mexico's men's basketball coach.
Age: 42.
At Iowa 1999-to-present): 152-106 in eight seasons; 52-77 overall on road; 100-29 at home; 61-67 in Big Ten; Seven straight winning seasons; Three NCAA Tournaments (1-3); Two Big Ten tourney titles; 13-6 in Big Ten tourney
At Manchester College: (1991-95) 78-29 in four seasons; went 74-13 in final three seasons; League champs 1994, 1995; League tourney champs 1993, 1994, 1995.
At Southwest Missouri State (1995-1999): 78-48 in four seasons; Advanced to NCAA Sweet 16 in 1999.
High school: New Castle Chrysler (Ind.) High; Indiana's Mr. Basketball in 1983 averaging 37 points per game.
College: Indiana (1983-87); 4-time team MVP; First Team All-American; Big 10 MVP; 1987 national champions.
NBA: Played for Dallas and Golden State.
Did you know: The Lobos play Iowa in the 2007-08 season; Ex-Lobo coach Bob King was an assistant at Iowa.
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"It was like going to bed with Britney Spears and waking up with Phyllis Diller."
John O'Rourke, former Tribune sports editor on UNM's last-minute hiring of Ritchie McKay after negotiating with Rob Evans.
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Britney Spears has returned to us - with better hair.
Media sources coast-to-coast are reporting that Iowa pretty-boy Steve Alford has flown the Hawkeyes' coop to become the University of New Mexico's replacement for Phyllis Diller - also known as Ritchie McKay.
UNM is hush-hush on this deal, but if it's true, it goes down as an A-plus hire for Paul Krebs, the Lobos director of athletics.
Finally, the Lobos are bringing a big name into The Pit.
In fact, the hiring of Alford, 42, could go down as UNM's most prestigious hire ever - in any sport.
The combination of Alford and The Pit has a tremendous upside.
Here you have a coach with a gigantic name on the national level recruiting to one of the top collegiate arenas in the history of the sport.
It will be better than Aggie pretty boy Reggie Theus recruiting to New Mexico State.
Now, we jump ahead to the obvious:
Alford has to do better than the three NCAA Tournament appearances (1-3) he had in eight seasons at Iowa.
The Pit has to warm up again.
But here are two predictions:
1. The season tickets for Lobos basketball for 2007-08 will jump way beyond the numbers sold during McKay's dreadful reign and maybe to an all-time high.
2. Alford will do fine at UNM, especially if he returns defensive intensity to The Pit floor.
The rap against Alford surely will be his failure to push Iowa into the Sweet 16, his failure to grab enough NCAA bids, his failure to win any Big Ten regular season titles.
Fair criticisms.
And there is no question that Alford's departure in Iowa City will be cheered by many Hawkeyes fans.
But that doesn't mean Lobos fans shouldn't greet this guy with open arms and huge expectations.
In the Big Ten, Alford was recruiting - and playing - against some of the top schools in the nation. He also was battling Kansas and other Big 12 powers for recruits.
He had it tough.
In the Mountain West, Alford immediately jumps to the top of the league's list in name recognition. He was Mr. Indiana in high school. He won a national title playing for Bobby Knight at Indiana. He won Olympic gold playing with Michael Jordan. He played in the NBA.
And he dresses almost as sharp as Theus.
Alford has had his moments coaching, too. He had a 30-1 season at Manchester College. He took Missouri State, then Southwest Missouri State, to the NCAA Sweet 16. He won two Big Ten tournament titles, which is a lot tougher than winning a MWC tourney title.
The word from Iowa is that Alford is ready to leave because of the hostile environment created by Hawkeyes fans - who wanted to win more.
Alford really won't find things much different here if he doesn't win.
The big difference between the hiring of McKay and the possible hiring of Alford is that McKay came in with no pedigree - at any level of the sport. He was a bad hire from the get-go.
Alford's resume could use some polish at the Division I level, but there is a great chance that Alford will polish The Pit and vice versa.
Lobos fans should note this, too: UNM is getting a bigger name in Steve Alford than Alford is getting in UNM.
