Its a generational thing, Bryce Alford commits to New Mexico (2013 G)

[Mark]

The above link is from Rivals.com and it tells you all you need to know. Bryce Alford committed to his father. His father is the CEO of The University of New Mexico. About as cut and dry as you will ever find in recruiting.
Coach Alford wasn't losing this recruiting battle for his talented son. In fact, he handled his entire recruitment. Bryce didn't take any of the calls from interested schools. Dad, now coach, did.

This allowed Bryce to focus on school and basketball.
He commented that he didn't have to worry about his recruitment and it took a lot off his mind.
One has to wonder how much actual effort was put into his recruitment by schools. Its hardly been a secret that Bryce was coming to New Mexico and him wanting to play for his dad much like the elder Alford played for his father, Sam.
Now, another generation of Alfords working together on the basketball court will begin in the high desert in 2013.

I contacted Coach Alford for comments regarding his son and his commitment but the NCAA has told him that he could not comment on his son.

[ThreePointShot]

Welcome to the Lobos, Bryce!

[LoboDogg]

Welcome Bryce!

[Roob]

Welcome Bryce. You're right where you belong. I look forward to seeing you in a Lobo uniform.

[loboray]

Welcome Bryce and thanks for officially joining the Lobo basketball family. We are all going to have a lot of fun along the way.

[RustyTX]

I contacted Coach Alford for comments regarding his son and his commitment but the NCAA has told him that he could not comment on his son.


Seriously? The NCAA is really that backward?

Oh and Bryce...welcome to the the Lobos. Best team in the west!

[eazy06]

Good to have him.

[Maxwell58]

Congratulations to Coach Castillo, Coach Alford and Bryce.
A big day for everyone.

Go Bears
Go Lobos

[Mark]

I contacted Coach Alford for comments regarding his son and his commitment but the NCAA has told him that he could not comment on his son.


Seriously? The NCAA is really that backward?

Oh and Bryce...welcome to the the Lobos. Best team in the west!

Really dumb.

[LaVidaLobo]

Great news. Bryce has already been a part of the Lobo family for 5 years now, so I am not surprised. Still, glad we'll have him in a Lobo uniform in a couple of years.

[wolf1960]

Bryce is the gutty, gym rat, sharpshooter guard we need on the Lobos.....

[milehighlobo]

Bryce Alford from way downtown, bang!

Welcome to the Lobos Bryce!!!

[lambchopLobo]

Congrats Bryce! Can't wait for you to rain the three ball on the rest of the MWC !! (killer defense always appreciated as well)

[loboh]

Bryce Alford from way downtown, bang!

Welcome to the Lobos Bryce!!!

Bullseye!

[MMALobo]

Bullseye!

Boom goes the dynamite? Lol

[datildame]

Welcome, Bryce. Looking forward to watching you play as a Lobo.

[ArkansasLobo]

Is that Coach Castillo that used to be at Cibola in the 80's?

The NC2A is a joke is SA can't comment on his OWN son!!!

Welcome youngster...now get in the gym and hoist up another 300 3's!!!

[Roob]

Alford from the corner... GREASEFIRE!!!!!

[MaxLobo]

Did he really say "grease fire"? I thought that's what it sounded like on the commercial replay....but hadn't heard the expression before (?)

[buddylee32]

I have a question some people say that we don't have to use a scholarship because his dad is staff and some people say he is going to be on scholarship which one is it?

[dbkirkp]

I like how he is a Lobo through and through. One thing I noticed was his "Lobo Swag" shirt, which is a shirt made by fans not sanctioned by the University. That part is awesome, because when you think of it, his Dad is sponsored. He can have any shirt that he wants that is sold by the bookstore or made by Nike, but he chooses to go out and pay for one that he likes better. He is a fanboy! I think that this also shows how genuine the Alford family is about liking Albuquerque. Let's face it, Locksley had to say he like Albuquerque even though he probably got tired of getting dirty looks everywhere he went. We are in a great situation with coach/Alfords here.

Thanks Bryce!

[dbkirkp]

I have a question some people say that we don't have to use a scholarship because his dad is staff and some people say he is going to be on scholarship which one is it?

He will "Walk on". As an employee of UNM Steve Alford gets free tuition for his children. Also he has a clause that says travel of his immediate family members will be paid for by the University when traveling to away games. The only positives of actually using the scholarship would be the rent of the Dorm room, and the food that players get at training table. Bryce is good enough to get a scholarship, but I am sure Dad has a soft spot in his heart for the guy and will pay for his room and board. This give them an extra schollie, which makes them deeper and better (big advantage really), which in turn helps Alford receive more bonuses and increase his base pay.

This is almost getting to "Jumbo-tron" territory, but the Alford kids will not use athletic scholarships.

[RIDIC]

"I've decided to take my talents and stay here..." lol. That's classic!

[Roob]

Hmmmm. I'm confused about the schollie thing. Walkons don't have press conferences to announce a commitment. For instance I don't recall Kory Alford announcing anything. He showed up as a walkon without much fanfare. This difference in approach has me thinking that Bryce is going to sign an LOI which means he locks up an MBB schollie.

Having 14 or 15 schollie type players can be a mixed blessing. Our bench only went 10 deep last year - meaning that the #11 player didn't get much playing time. And you saw how that worked out. Having 14 eligible players means that 4 of them sit on the bench most of the year.

[GoLobos]

I

Hmmmm. I'm confused about the schollie thing. Walkons don't have press conferences to announce a commitment. For instance I don't recall Kory Alford announcing anything. He showed up as a walkon without much fanfare. This difference in approach has me thinking that Bryce is going to sign an LOI which means he locks up an MBB schollie.

Having 14 or 15 schollie type players can be a mixed blessing. Our bench only went 10 deep last year - meaning that the #11 player didn't get much playing time. And you saw how that worked out. Having 14 eligible players means that 4 of them sit on the bench most of the year.

I agree. I am not sure why people feel we need more guys not getting enough PT and transferring out.

[dbkirkp]

I disagree big time. I don't mind kids sitting on the bench and transferring out if they aren't happy. It is better for the program (Not transferring out, but having a lot of players). This isn't a childhood rec league at the YMCA, this is a business and along with academics and basketball kids should be learning about competition.

I am big into getting a big pool of applicants and then cutting it down to the best ones. I read a really interesting Malcom Gladwell article about it and how it works in effectively finding the most talented people. It talked about drafting professional football quarterbacks, and how it is hard to tell by scouting which ones will be successful. It talked about Chase Daniels of Mizzou and how drafting a quarterback is a big risk (like recruiting high schoolers) because sometimes they pan out, and sometimes they don't, and you don't have much room for error if you want to win and are always looking for the "Diamond in the rough". Gladwell talked about how financial institutions often hire many, many low level employees and have them compete for the big money jobs (Think Will Smith in "Pursuit of Hapyness"). Gladwell then talks about how he believes if teaching was opened to more people than just those with a teaching degree and they competed with their competence in teaching, we would be able to get a much more efficient group of teachers in America.

I love this type of stuff, and I really think that if we have 14 scholarship level players and if we only play 8 of them, we will still be better because of it. UNM football really suffered because of a lack of scholarships even though we weren't short of scholarship players to play the game. (I know having the nation's worst coach didn't help).

here is the article that talks about this phenomenon. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2..._fact_gladwell

[txlobo95]

Congrats Bryce and your "official" welcome to the Lobo Family!!!

Can't wait to see you start torching opponents from deep.

I wonder if he'll be a Scotty Skiles type and talk some junk on the court? I still remember that game at the PIT, where Skiles torched us for 30+ and taunted the crowd from the opening tip. If Bryce is that much of a bada$$ shooter, it would be cool to see. Maybe we can nickname him the "Silencer"??? Mostly for road games... (when he drains 3's and crowd goes silent...)

Having 14 eligible players means that 4 of them sit on the bench most of the year.

Or it could mean that you have 4 Drew Gordon, E. Negedu and D Walker type transfers, just biding their time until the following year??? Also, provides more depth in case of a season ending injury (Alex Kirk)

Let's face it, we made do with only 3 bigs this year, but it certainly wasn't ideal and as LoboMike astutely mentioned, it had a noticeable effect on the way we played our defense, to help avoid any unneccesary fouls, thus making us less aggressive defensively than we otherwise could have been. With Aget, he'll have the green light to be a Dieng type of player defensively and swat every shot he possibly can.

I can't wait until we have enough post players, we can throw waves of defenders at you, not worrying about a foul here or there and can bring in another player just as good off the bench. Kind of like our guard rotation this year, where you had Philly, Jamal and D Walker, who would all be capable starters.

No more 5-23 from 3 in the very near future, Bryce will come in and be our Brady Heslip (Baylor's guard that went 9-12 from 3 in Albuquerque), can't wait!!!

[Mark]

I've already said. He's a scholarship player. He is NOT walking on or anything like that. He's a full ride player. End of discussion. Lol

[LoboMike]

I think it could always change and I don't think it matters either way. Our scholarship numbers in that class appear limited at this point (only two seniors on the team next year) and, obviously, they would want one to go to Aaron G. But what if we have a chance to get another high-level recruit in that class, like Robert Hubbs or the Bridgewater guy? We may need another scholarship open in that type of scenario. It's not like it would hurt any feelings if Dad paid the way for Bryce. That's like a scholarship considering the program pays Dad's hefty salary, as well.

Now, chances are that we may end up with more scholarships for that class (we'll see who we get this spring) anyway, but they'll have the option either way.

[UNMerciful_1]

If you have in effect 14 scholarship players, I can guarantee you that you're going to lose out on a lot of talented players. Why? Because when you're recruiting the same player as school x, they're going to use the fact that you have 14 scholarship players on your team against you, and most players would end up choosing the other school because of it. There's a reason why McCallum JR (Detroit), and McDermott(Creighton) are on scholarship even though they play for their dads. Call me crazy, but I'll take quality over quantity any day.