The puff of cherry and silver smoke emanating from a chimney on Fern Lovo’s X account Sunday morning said it all.
The University of New Mexico athletic director announced the school has found its new men’s basketball coach. UNM has reached a deal to hire UC San Diego’s Eric Olen to replace Richard Pitino less than a week after Pitino took the job at Xavier.
Details of Olen’s contract have not been made available, but the standard deal for incoming coaches at UNM is in the four- to five-year range with an annual salary of approximately $1.2 million. ESPN's Pete Thamel reports it is a five-year deal with financials not yet disclosed.
Olen, 44, is a veritable UCSD lifer, having spent most of his first decade in coaching as an assistant with the school. He joined the school’s staff straight out of college in 2004 and was promoted to head coach in 2013. He successfully led the school’s transition from Division II to Division I in 2020.
He was 240-119 in his time with the Tritons. He led the team to the D2 national tournament four straight years and had the Tritons at 30-1 during the 2019-20 season, their last in D2. That season’s tournament was canceled due to COVID.
“This is one of the most special programs in college basketball, and my family and I are thrilled to be a part of Lobo Nation,” Olen said in a release issued by UNM. “I can’t wait to get to work and write the next great chapter in New Mexico basketball history.”
UCSD broke through with 30 wins this season and reached the NCAA Tournament as a chic pick to score an upset as a No. 12 seed. The Tritons lost to Michigan in the first round after nearly sending the game to overtime on a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer.
UCSD has had only five seasons in DI. The program spent the first three of those below .500 as members of the Big West, then went 21-12 in 2023-24 and 30-5 this season. This past season was their first year of eligibility for the NCAA Tournament after a four-year transition period for entering D1.
Olen’s style is the complete opposite of Pitino’s. The Tritons had one of the nation’s top defenses using a complex matchup zone. The team ranked seventh in the country in scoring defense and 13th in opponents’ shooting percentage despite having just one player on the roster taller than 6-foot-8.
Pitino’s teams, by contrast, were among the nation’s leaders in pace and fast break points.
UCSD entered the NCAA Tournament on a 15-game winning streak, holding 11 of those opponents to fewer than 65 points. Olen was voted Big West coach of the year each of the past two seasons.
“Eric is a proven winner with an incredible track record,” UNM athletic director Fernando Lovo said. “Beyond the accolades and success on the court, he is a values-driven leader who puts student-athletes first. We’re confident he’ll bring tremendous energy and vision to our program.”
Olen grew up in Mobile, Ala., and attended college in Alabama, playing four years at NAIA’s Spring Hill College. He graduated in 2004 and followed his then-coach, Bill Carr, to the West Coast to become an assistant at UCSD. He has never coached anywhere else.
Olen’s base salary as UCSD’s coach was $345,000 and his buyout for leaving early is only $150,000. UNM was prepared to offer Pitino close to $2 million annually to stay.
Olen and UAB coach Andy Kennedy were the two finalists for the New Mexico job. The national search began Tuesday night with Pitino’s announcement and candidates like NBA veterans James Borrego and Mike Brown were said to be part of the process.
Olen inherits a Lobos program facing a massive overhaul. Despite its success under Pitino — three straight trips to the postseason, two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, 75 wins the last three years and regular season champions of the Mountain West this season ...
