Why did alford leave iowa

If he ever is to coach the Hoosiers, the time is upon us. But it isn't the same Big Ten or same college basketball landscape as when Alford played for a national-champ at Indiana and Bob Knight ruled the world, is it?

Parity is real. Everyone plays virtually every game on television. The Hoosiers don't resonate with America like they once did, no more than Nebraska football does now compared to decades ago when the Huskers were kings. This is a soap opera Iowa can watch with amusement. But sooner or later, everyone boils in a cauldron of overheated expectations.

It will even happen with Northwestern basketball one of these years. Erin Jordan Iowa Football Nov. Vanessa Miller Higher Ed Nov. Nathan Ford. Prep Football 15m ago. Mike Hlas. Iowa Basketball 90m ago. Iowa Football 2h ago. Jeff Linder. High School Basketball 3h ago. Savannah Blake. High School Basketball Nov. High School Basketball Oct. Jeff Johnson , Jeff Linder , K. Iowa Prep Sports Nov. Associate head coach Craig Neal, who grew up in Indiana, has been Alford's friend and basketball cohort since they were 9.

Warkentien is the daughter of Huntington, Ind. The coaching staff is a group handpicked by Alford. And, he said, they have their work cut out for them. Nevada, which went last year, has lost seven of its eight players who took the court last season. Alford is sitting on a chair, taking a break from practice, the whistles and balls and sneakers are still screeching. The guys are great. Of course, Alford is used to pressure and adversity.

It just means work harder, practice more and never settle. As the more than two-hour practice presses on, Alford grows more animated and louder. He hangs his head when a player makes a flashy move to the basket and misses the shot.

He blows his whistle and the gym stands still. Alford is the only one moving, imitating the shot, twirling and pretending to flip a ball in the air. You know what makes a shot pretty? Alford comes to Nevada with a career record of Alford called Bil Duany in April. Would Duany want to come to Nevada to be his assistant coach?

But, Alford also gets it, Duany said. What it's like to be young, just starting out in the college world. He knows what it takes to succeed. That's where his sensibilities are," Duany said. And he won a championship as a player so he can really speak to them.

Alford said that more than anything else, he wants to build a relationship with his players, bond with them, be there for them.

Inside a huge house on Lake Tahoe last weekend, Alford started that at his team retreat. Basketball was put on the back burner. Instead, the staff and players, 28 of them, all just hung out. They played softball, Foosball, ping pong, corn hole and bocce ball.

They watched movies, pre-season NBA and football in a seat theater room. He knows basketball is not going to last forever. He had won in each of his first two coaching stops, capped off by a run to the Sweet Sixteen at a mid-major in a neighboring state. He had personality, charisma and what looked like everything needed to take Iowa to the promised land after years of fan in-fighting over a Tom Davis-led team that had appeared to plateau.

That team was symbolic of the Hawkeyes under Alford. Over his eight years in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes went Iowa won a pair of Big Ten Tournament Championships under Alford, but no regular season championships. But remember Northwestern State's win over Iowa? Listen, this is an Iowa Hawkeye blog. Feel dirty? I know I do. In the fall of , Pierre Pierce, then a sophomore guard for the Hawkeyes coming off an excellent freshman season, was arrested and charged with third-degree sexual assault.

The details are horrific. Even after the failed attempt to strong-arm the victim, Alford continued to publicly defend Pierce. The situation turned many a Hawkeye fan against their coach. They could look past the arrogance. They could get past his poorly hidden desire to be at Indiana. But this incident was too much.

They protested outside Carver-Hawkeye Arena and they turned against the leader of their team. So what did Alford do? In another staggering display of arrogance and bravado, he brought Pierce back to the team. After pleading guilty to a lesser charge and redshirting in , Pierce returned to the Hawkeyes for his sophomore season in During the season, he was leading the team in scoring at The dismissal came only after Pierce was involved in yet another sexual assault.

In August of , he pled guilty to third-degree burglary, assault with an intent to commit sexual abuse, false imprisonment, and fourth-degree criminal mischief and was sentenced to two years in prison. And yet, the man continues to find employment. UNM had to have questions about the past, but apparently they were able to get over it. Or maybe they truly believed Alford was contrite and had learned from the whole ordeal. Who knows. At the end of the day, Alford spent 6 years as the head man for the Lobos, where he arguably had more success than anywhere else.

He amassed a record of Frustration has boiled over in Albuquerque, where Craig Neal has failed to guide New Mexico to more than 18 wins in a season in the past three years. To make matters worse, its former head coach, Steve Alford, has proceeded to notch three Sweet 16's with a chance for more this season in just four years. New Mexico fans would gladly welcome Alford home in a heartbeat though it won't happen , but the end of Alford's stay with UNM won't soon be forgotten.

Nine days later, UNM also lost its head coach. Alford signed a lengthy year extension the week prior, noting that he had originally envisioned that he would coach New Mexico until his retirement. However, money though Alford did not cite it as a reason for leaving and the chance of coaching one of the most storied college basketball teams in the nation was too much to pass up.

There is still a great amount of resentment towards Alford with how he abandoned New Mexico, but it would be foolish to think Lobo fans would wish for any other situation than what it is in right now.

Coaching at UCLA is a dream for just about any hoops coach.