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Alford's salary: $975,000

Lobos inflation

The price of doing business goes up every time UNM hires a new men's basketball coach. Here's a look at previous coaches's total salaries when they were hired at UNM:

Dave Bliss, 1988 $200,000

Fran Fraschilla, 1999 $350,000

Ritchie McKay, 2002 $500,000

Steve Alford, 2007 $975,000

King of the Mountain

Incoming University of New Mexico men's basketball coach Steve Alford's $975,000 salary likely makes him the highest paid coach in the Mountain West Conference and in New Mexico. Here's a look at what his competitors earn:

Lon Kruger, Nevada-Las Vegas $775,000

Heath Scroyer, Wyoming $500,000

Reggie Theus, New Mexico State $400,000+

Tim Miles Colorado State $400,000

Jeff Bzdelik Air Force $336,000

Steve Fisher San Diego State $480,000

*Mountain West Conference schools BYU and TCU are private institutions and do not release salary information. The Utah position is vacant, but the last coach made about $800,000 a year.

The University of New Mexico officially hired former Iowa coach Steve Alford today and said it will pay the former Indiana star a whopping $975,000 a year.

UNM Athletics Director Paul Krebs said the Lobos and Alford agreed on a six-year contract with a base salary at $210,000.

"We aspire to have a great basketball program and compete with the best," Krebs said. "If you want to compete with the best, you have to pay the best. That's what we're willing to do."

UNM introduced Alford today at a news conference on the UNM campus. The Lobos didn't have to pay a buyout to release Alford from his Iowa contract that paid him around $1.25 million per year.

Former Lobos coach Ritchie McKay earned about $500,000. In 1979, coach Norm Ellenberger's salary at UNM was $37,300.

"There are a lot of other coaches getting paid more than me," Alford said. "That's just the trend of college basketball. As a coach, you've got to understand as salaries get higher, expectations rise. As coaches we have to know that. I don't care about that as much as the fans knowing that I need their help. I'm not riding in on a whte horse to save the day."

Alford spoke for about 35 minutes to a room of hundreds that included Krebs, new President David Schmidly and most of the Lobos basketball team.

Now he's the million dollar man -- almost.

"I told Paul not to worry about money," Schmidly said. "Getting the right coach was the bigger issue. We feel like we did that."