Apr. 6—We're still a ways from knowing just how much bite the UNM basketball team will have under new coach Eric Olen.
But Sunday, the Lobos added some Howell.
Chris Howell, a 6-foot-6 defensive stopper who started 35 games for Olen's UC San Diego Tritons this past season, announced he is transferring to UNM for his fourth and final season of college basketball.
"God is good all the time," Howell wrote on his Instagram post under a photo of himself in a Lobos uniform, donning his familiar No. 8. "All love SD, Let's go Lobos!"
Howell, who starred in high school at San Diego's Torrey Pines High School and played his first two seasons at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California, transferred back home to San Diego this past season.
Mike Howell, Chris' older brother, was just hired as one of three UNM Lobo assistant coaches and was on Olen's staff last season with the Tritons. The elder Howell played his college ball for Olen at UCSD and is still the program's all-time assists leader. The Howells — Chris, Mikey and their whole family — are very close with Olen.
Chris Howell was the 2021 CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year. Thursday, the Lobos landed a commitment from this year's CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year in 6-4 Jake Hall of Carlsbad (California) High School.
Aside from the personal familiarity Howell has with the new UNM coaching staff, he also was a vital part of this past season's 30-win, Big West Champion Tritons squad that played in the NCAA Tournament in its first year of eligibility to do so, giving him unique insight to the unique offensive and defensive systems Olen will be implementing in Albuquerque.
And his role on the floor will likely be multi-faceted, just as it was this past season, despite his not being one of the team's top scorers (he averaged 5.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.2 steals per game).
"He's a connector," Big West Player of the Year and Tritons teammate Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones told the San Diego Union-Tribune in January. "Always a positive guy. Positive attitude every day. He uplifts us. Just a great guy.
"He's gonna make plays. He's gonna dive on the floor. He's gonna hit guys in the paint. ... He does things other guys don't necessarily want to do. He's essential to us winning these games for sure. Very blessed to have him on our team."
According to BartTorvik.com, Howell's defensive BPM (box score plus/minus) rating of 4.5 this past season was ranked 24th in all of Division I and the fifth best for any player outside of a Power 5 conference.
He would have ranked second in the Mountain West behind San Diego State's Miles Byrd (4.9, 16th in country). The top-ranked Lobo in Torvik's DBPM from this past season was guard Tru Washington (4.0, 58th nationally, 2nd Mountain West).
Howell had 13 games with three or more steals. His 4.26 steal rate (percentage of possessions a player comes up with a steal while on the court) is the same as former Lobo Jaelen House had in 2024 and ranked Howell this season 29th in the country, according to KenPom.com — four spots behind Mountain West leading Byrd (4.29) and nine spots ahead of Lobo leader Washington (4.10).
This season's national leader in steal rate? UCSD's Hayden Gray (5.71).
"I am just obsessed with winning," Howell told the San Diego Union-Tribune in January. "I just want to win. Whatever coach needs me to do to win, that's what I like to do. Usually that comes down to the dirty work because we have a very talented team. So, that's my role and I love being a part of it."
Roster building...
The NCAA ...
