近距离内射合集

Scott Waterman had a choice to make in April 2025.

The winningest basketball coach at the Division II Academy of Art University had just been informed that the program he led to the school鈥檚 only two NCAA Tournament appearances was being discontinued.

He could frantically try to find his next job 鈥� something that in April of a college coaching hiring cycle is already about done 鈥� or he could focus on first helping his two would-be returning assistants, nine returning players and four incoming recruits find their next landing spots.

By the time he finally put all of his energy into his own search, there weren't many coaching jobs left.

So he made a phone call to a guy he didn鈥檛 know well, but certainly knew of. He called Eric Olen, who had been hired that spring as the new coach of the UNM Lobos.

鈥淚 had a lot of connections to the people on (the UNM) staff, and I kind of reached out to coach Olen, and was like, 鈥楬ey, if I can come out there and help your guys鈥� program, is that something that you would be interested in, if you are able to even make that happen?鈥欌�� Waterman explained to the Journal in January in .

鈥淗e was like, 鈥楢re you kidding me? That would be a no-brainer for us.鈥� So, he made it happen. And I came out to Albuquerque.鈥�

The problem for Waterman was that Olen had already hired his entire coaching staff and the only role he could offer was a created, volunteer position called Special Assistant to the Head Coach.

One year later, the gamble paid off 鈥� for Waterman, for the Lobos, and for New Mexico Highlands University, the Division II school that announced Waterman as its new men鈥檚 basketball coach on Tuesday.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 thank coach Olen enough for giving me the opportunity. If I hadn鈥檛 been in New Mexico, there鈥檚 no way I get this job,鈥� Waterman told the Journal. 鈥淚 think I was at a point in my career (a year ago) where I鈥檝e been in that (head coaching) chair and I knew what I needed to do to become a better coach, and this (year at UNM) was the perfect opportunity for that.鈥�

Waterman, whose wife is from El Paso and who actually ran cross country at Highlands, now takes over a Cowboys program looking for a complete reset after the early May ousters of head coach Zach Settembre, provost Dann Brown and administrators Paul Grindstaff, David Lepre and Johnny Montoya.

From his standpoint, Waterman said he sees the challenge of a complete rebuild as a great opportunity considering NMHU has the resources to be quickly competitive.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get to walk into many programs and create your own image, be able to basically recruit your own roster from the start and to lay a foundation your way,鈥� Waterman said. 鈥淲ith the way that the school is right now, it allows me to do that. ...

鈥淚 said this (past) year was like a sabbatical year for me and a situation where I bet on myself. There were a lot of doubtful nights, especially since our season ended here (wondering if he was going to land another job this offseason). Things work out for a reason, and whatever reason it is, I couldn鈥檛 be more excited.鈥�

As for UNM, Olen wasn鈥檛 thrilled with what the program is losing, but was almost giddy with excitement when a reporter brought the hire up at the Lobos鈥� public practice event in the Pit on Tuesday night.

鈥淥h, I'm happy you asked me that,鈥� Olen told the Journal with a big smile, calling the Academy of Art job of seven years ago the 鈥渕ost difficult job in Division II basketball on the West Coast, and it wasn鈥檛 even close鈥� before Waterman turned it into a power.

鈥淲e are so fired up for Scott. I feel like we were the really fortunate ones in all this. We were able to add a really experienced, terrific head coach to our staff late in the process (last offseason), and he added so much value for us. ...

鈥淲ith the amount of experience that he has, he had a no-job-too-small kind of approach to being here, and was really additive for our staff, not just for me, but the younger coaches, too.鈥�

Waterman said of his 鈥渟abbatical鈥� season on the UNM bench, he learned more than he ever could have imagined from the entire staff.

鈥淭hey say you don鈥檛 ever want to be the smartest guy in the room,鈥� Waterman said. 鈥淎s a head coach, sometimes I kind of felt that way. Then coming onto this staff, I felt like sometimes I was the dumb guy in the room. Just every day sitting there and listening to them, picking their brains on the analytics, or how we鈥漴e going to guard this guy, or the margins of error in terms of winning games. Everything resonates.鈥�

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