Steve Alford is worth any money they're paying him
Posted at: 03/20/2013 8:23 PM
| Updated at: 03/20/2013 8:32 PM
By: J.P. Murrieta, KOB Eyewitness Sports 4
The University of New Mexico and Steve Alford announced a new 10-year agreement keeping him with the Cherry and Silver through 2022-2023.
UNM gave Alford an extension back in 2010 and he was already scheduled to make a base salary of $504,200 in 2014. In reality, this new deal extends the life of the contract and comes out to be about a $24,000 a year raise. And in my opinion, that's a bargain. The reality is the UNM men's basketball program makes enough money to fund most of the other programs in the athletic department.
UNM Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs says the athletic department can fund the increase through basketball revenue. "It's safe to say there will be a price increase (in tickets, parking, concessions, etc) to help pay for this," Krebs said Wednesday night.
When things were bleak, Lobo fans, UNM went after Alford. And the selection paid off. Getting a coach like this one and keeping him is the price of doing business. When Alford wins, the University wins and the bottom line is the Lobos are winning. The Lobos are coming off back-to-back regular season and conference tournament titles. Attendance is up, which means revenue is up and the exposure Alford's helped get for UNM this year is unlike any other time I've seen with Lobo basketball. National writers are picking UNM to get to the Final Four. UNM athletes are on the front web pages of ESPN.com and SI.com. The exposure the program is getting right now is immeasurable. But if I had to put a price on it, I'd say it's worth $24,000 more a year.
Be excited Lobo fans, you have your coach sticking around for the long haul.
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