Olen, Berryman talk commitment to Lobo basketball

Lobo hoops transfer portal tracker

The Journal is keeping tabs on all offseason roster moves for the Lobo men’s basketball team — who is leaving, who is returning, who hasn’t decided — on its Transfer Portal Tracker (CLICK HERE).

There was a time when the five-year coaching contract was said to be a must-have for recruiting.

Without them, the coaches themselves, their agents and the athletic department administrators behind negotiating the deals would tell you, high school players would never feel comfortable committing to a program if they didn't know their coach and school weren't committed to one another for the long haul.

Well, times certainly have changed in college athletics.

"I don't think recruits care about my contract," UNM men's basketball coach Eric Olen said with a smile Tuesday.

But fans and donors, sure do. At least that's the hope of Olen and UNM Vice President/Director of Athletics Ryan Berryman. On Tuesday, Berryman spoke about the evolving college landscape and the value in giving Olen a new five-year contract after just one — albeit successful — season. Olen’s contract was announced Monday.

VIDEO: UNM coach Eric Olen, AD Ryan Berryman talk new contract at Tuesday news conference.

The pair held a news conference to talk about the new deal — one that includes a modest pay raise and a bump in assistant coaching salary. Also included is a clock reset on buyout terms, which adds some protection for UNM if Olen gets lured away by another school. His predecessor Richard Pitino was lured away just 14 months ago.

It's the second major contract deal — and public showing of investment and commitment — UNM has made in the past six months. First-year football coach Jason Eck received a new contract after his program’s success amid bigger schools showing interest.

"There's a tangible aspect to maybe the dollars and cents that we're talking about, but there's an intangible aspect of the community pride and the sentiment about our athletic department, locally and nationally as well. And it's hard to put a number on that," said Berryman.

"I think having key individuals come back, and our ability to retain talented individuals helps with that. ... It's sometimes hard to quantify, but if you look at it holistically and the narrative in the community and nationwide, it's certainly positive."

Olen, who technically isn't getting a raise on his base salary or compensation for the first year of the deal, but did get a $100,000 retention bonus for signing, said the university's obvious investment in him, but more importantly into other aspects of the program — assistant salary increases, revenue sharing for players, etc. — is undeniable. Olen is set to make $1.35 million for the 2026-27 season.

"A lot of it is investment in the program," Olen said. "Obviously the result is a contract that I'm signing, and my compensation and those kind of things. But it's bigger than that in terms of commitment to the program in a lot of different ways. Obviously, college basketball is a competitive space and as competition continues to grow and elevate, we want to continue to do the same.

"So, it's important, specifically right now with some of the conference realignment and (playing in) the new Mountain West and trying to stay relevant outside of our conference as we continue to pursue NCAA Tournament appearances and national relevance for this basketball program."

So, about that retention...

While fans sure were excited about the return of Lobo guards Jake Hall, Uriah Tenette and Chris Howell from this past season's roster, Olen said Tuesday that building a roster anymore is part retention, part new talent acquisition, part chemistry building and that the old way of building a product has changed.

Even for program veterans now, with so much roster turnover, it's about getting all the players on the same page and just because you're back doesn't give you a pass on that process.

"It's important for everybody involved to understand that we're starting from scratch every year and things that happened in the past — the experience is helpful, but last year's over," Olen said. "We're on to the next one. And I think that investment in our program, investment in our staff, investment in our players, all those things are great as long as they're handled the right way and we keep the right approach.

"I think any time that there is that type of investment following any degree of success, then you have to worry about complacency and making sure people have the right mindset and understanding that we're just getting started and that we haven't accomplished anything."

Where are the bigs?!

UNM wasn't a great shot-blocking team last season. Olen knows that, and would love to address it. He also knows how much Lobo fans — some more vocal about it than others — think all he needs to do now that he has the first 10 players for the 2026-27 team signed is simply sign two 7-foot shot blockers who can shoot the 3 and average a double-double.

That's all.

"College basketball recruiting has a financial component to it," said Olen, uttering a phrase never heard publicly just two or three years ago. "Size and rim protection are some of the things that are at most premium in terms of the market.

"It's easy to look at like our statistical model and say this is a weakness, but it's not as simple to sort of fill that hole. Rim protection for the sake of rim protection if they don't fit into other things and contribute to how we're operating, can be a misuse of resources. There's a lot of factors in those decisions and we'd like to have the most complete team we possibly can. We also feel like there's other ways to win basketball games."

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