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Jake Hall wasn’t just ahead with one hole to play at the Tanoan Country Club golf course this past fall. Naturally, he was up three.

And he wasn’t up three on just anybody, but one of the only people in Albuquerque who knew then what the rest of us now know: This freshman sure can play.

But Eric Olen — before he ever coached his first game for the UNM Lobos — didn't veer from the scouting report. He knew his young sharpshooter well, having recruited him since he was 14 years old.

Olen, the new Lobo hoops coach, projecting his usual quiet confidence, didn’t say a word as he and Hall teed off on that final hole of golf before the season.

“No, I don’t have to talk to him,” Olen said this week. “He’s in his own head on the golf course. I don’t need to do anything there.”

Yes, it’s true.

Hall, who can't miss a 3 on the basketball court, couldn’t hold a 3 (-stroke lead) on one hole against his coach on the golf course.

“He caught me on my off day,” Hall said — a huge dimple forming on his cheek while he couldn’t hold in a smile, admitting he blew a three-stroke lead against Olen on the last hole.

Maybe we should have seen this coming. After all, Hall’s younger brother — high school senior Dax Hall, who has a scholarship offer to join his brother at UNM next season — told the Journal in a podcast interview last fall that he was a better golfer than Jake.

“Nah, I’m better than Dax,” Jake Hall was quick to point out on Monday. “But Olen just caught me on a bad day. I was actually up three strokes on the last hole and had a little bit of a meltdown.”

“Yeah, he melted down for sure,” Olen agreed.

Ahead of the UNM basketball team’s National Invitation Tournament semifinal game Thursday against Tulsa in Indianapolis, Olen was asked about Hall after that round of golf came to light.

Should there be concern of a final-hole melt down from the 6-foot-4 California kid who just completed one of the top handful of freshman seasons in Lobo basketball history?

Again, Olen knew the scouting report.

“No, those are two different arenas for him,” Olen said with his knowing grin. “He’s much better on the basketball court.”

And now, heading into the last hole, so to speak, of the season, Olen has the same quiet confidence as he looks to his squad. The pieced-together roster of players, entirely new to the Lobos, went from "who are these guys?" last spring to now having a chance to etch their names in program lore, even if the NIT dance floor isn’t as grand as the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re playing good basketball,” Olen said of his 26-10 Lobos. “We’ll have to continue that because Tulsa is a really good team and the best team we’ve seen in this event.” UNM won its first three NIT games by an average of 21.3 points per game, by far the best of the four teams remaining.

“It’s certainly a challenge. We’re excited about that challenge. We’re excited about the opportunity. But we felt this way all year — when we play well, when we play good basketball, we give ourselves a great chance to have success every night. And Thursday is no different.”

The semifinal against Tulsa is at 7 p.m. local Indianapolis time (5 p.m. Mountain) in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The team chartered to the Hoosier State on Tuesday and there will be a press conference on Wednesday in Hinkle and 15 minutes of open practice for media to watch — something Olen didn't allow once during the season, being the first Lobo basketball coach since at least Bob King to not allow media at practices.

Hall, the team’s leading scorer at 16.3 points per game, may be young, but he’s not naive to how special this season has been.

“Just grateful. We’re still playing in April ... you know? It's crazy,” Hall said. “(Now), just make the most of the opportunity ... try and play one more game together. That’s kind of been our goal, just trying to play another game with this group. This is a great group of guys."

Thursday’s contest will mark the UNM basketball program’s first ever game in April.

On an individual level, even if he isn't the one who wants to speak about it, Hall’s season — Mountain West Freshman of the Year, all-MW First Team — is already cemented as historic. His 116 3-pointers is the fourth-most ever for a Division I freshman, two behind NBA star Trae Young (118 in 2018 at Oklahoma); six shy of future NBA Hall of Famer Steph Curry (122 at Davidson in 2007) and 16 away from NCAA Division I record holder Antoine Davis (132 at Detroit in 2019).

And while those stories will be ones Hall can tell for a lifetime, so, too will be the ones about the bonds he’s built with the coaching staff and his teammates. 

“The relationship with the staff I have here is special and something you can't find at every program,” Hall said. “I was kind of thinking about it the other day (he said of that golf game in the fall), I don't think that's that’s something every head coach is doing with their players, or their guys at all.:

And so while he wants to win two more games in Indianapolis this week more than anyone can imagine, Hall admittedly also has something else on his mind that’s about to happen in about another week or so. 

He gets a rematch at Tanoan with his coach.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) .