On Sunday, amid the hoopla surrounding the announcement of Fran Fraschilla's resignation as UNM men's basketball head coach, stood several current and former Lobos who heard the news for the first time.
Player reaction to Fraschilla's resignation was mixed, with junior point guard and team captain Senque Carey preparing to rally his fellow troops while junior post Moustapha Diagne pondered his future as a Lobo.
"I'm going to try my best to have a meeting with the team and just let them know that life goes on," Carey said. "Fran is a hell of a coach. He got a lot out of people, we just didn't win a lot of games for him. That's the main thing."
Carey added that he was not looking forward to the team taking a new direction, at least for now.
"I don't think a single player on this team is excited," Carey said. "It's kind of a shock. I've never been in a situation when a coach had resigned or anything like that. (The new coach) is going to be my third coach in four years that I've been in college."
Diagne, a heavily recruited 7-footer who saw limited playing time this year because of a chronic foot condition, said he was not sure whether or not he could embrace a new coach.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"I'm discouraged about what happened," Diagne said. "I do not know if I can play with a coach that I don't know. I have to know the coach first and know what kind of person he is. It doesn't make sense to play with a coach that you don't like."
Meanwhile, departing senior Pat Kelly was a freshman when the Lobos' last coach Dave Bliss resigned and said the transition was tough.
"There is so much uncertainty, you don't know what is going to happen, who is going to stay and what kind of style the next coach will bring in," Kelly said.
He also said he was concerned with the fate of UNM's assistant coaches.
"I just really feel bad for the coaching staff," Kelly said. "The assistant coaches like (Joe) Dooley, (Darren) Savino and (Rodney) Belcher, who worked real hard, but don't have the recognition coach Fraschilla has. Their jobs are uncertain for the future."
Former point guard Marlon Parmer has said that he would like to return to the team if Fraschilla left.
When reached by phone Sunday by the Daily Lobo, Parmer said he was not aware of Fraschilla's resignation and could not comment until he knew more about the situation.
Parmer said he would play for any coach that UNM brings in, but athletics director Rudy Davalos said he would not discuss Parmer's situation.
"He's not a student-athlete, so I'm not going to discuss Marlon Parmer," Davalos said.
Fraschilla said two new signees to the program, Ashanti Cook and David Chiotti, would be informed of his resignation and that he hoped they would still commit to joining a strong group of players.
"I think the next guy that comes in is going to inherit a pretty solid group," Fraschilla said. "I will strongly encourage, particularly the older guys, to try keep this team together for the next coach, because I would like to see them have success. From the bottom of my heart, I feel that way."
The Lobos lose four senior players this year, including Kelly, Eric Chatfield, Beau Anderson and Tim Lightfoot.
UNM's leading scorer Ruben Douglas, and posts Cody Payne, Patrick Dennehy Jamaal Williams and Chad Bell are expected to return next year, along with Diagne and Carey.
