Mike Bradbury traded his gray sports coat for a red one as New Mexico introduced the sixth head coach in UNM women’s basketball history.
Bradbury said at Thursday afternoon’s press conference that he is still getting acclimated to the concept of deciphering between red and green chile, having only been in Albuquerque all but three days. However, the head coach said he knew he chose the right place to move because of the history, the fan base and the tradition at the University of New Mexico.
“I am excited to be the head coach at New Mexico and to be a part of the Lobo family, and the Albuquerque community,” Bradbury said. “When you look at this place from afar, it is something that all the coaches in the country are envious of.”
Bradbury left Wright State where the coach compiled a 128-73 record in six years at the helm. Bradbury is taking the reins about two weeks after former UNM coach Yvonne Sanchez was let go by the University.
“It’s hard to believe but I believe it was two weeks ago, tomorrow, that we let Coach Sanchez go,” New Mexico Vice President of Athletics Paul Krebs said. “At that time, I talked about what I thought was the reasonable expectations for our women’s basketball program, which was to be nationally relevant, to be, if not the dominant, a dominant player in the Mountain West.”
University President Bob Frank was in attendance among Krebs and Bradbury, something Krebs said showed the importance of basketball to the New Mexico community.
“Both of our programs, the women’s program and the men’s program, we have huge expectations for,” Frank said. "Today’s a really important day for our program as we turn the page and a new chapter for women’s basketball at the University of New Mexico.”
Krebs added to Frank’s opening comments by acknowledging the difficult process he and his staff members were forced to go through in a short period of time.
The athletics director said the goal was to get a new head coach before this year's NCAA Women’s Final Four took place. However, he said that goal was not a hard deadline; the process was done with a lot of hard work, many phone calls and thorough research.
“We had multiple interviews with a diverse number of candidates,” Krebs said. “In the end it was the unanimous thought process from everybody involved that Mike Bradbury was the right fit at the right time for the University of New Mexico.”
Krebs said one of the things that drew UNM to Bradbury was his intensity, game style and passion. What stood out most was his leadership capability, he said.
Bradbury said he accepts the heavy expectations that have been placed on his shoulders and added that he expects to be a dominant force in the Mountain West. He said the Lobos will be able to attain that status by high intensity, strong enthusiasm and a lot of intensity.
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“The most important thing for me in the short term is to get to know and be with our team, our players, as much as possible,” Bradbury said. “There’s nobody more important to this program than our current players.”
Bradbury did not go into who would stay from Sanchez’s staff and who the head coach intended to bring in. But as far as players go, Bradbury intends on winning with the recruits Sanchez brought in, and his current squad.
One of the things Krebs said highlighted Bradbury’s resume was the coach’s recruiting capability. While Bradbury acknowledged he has become familiar with the recruits in the Midwest, he said it is important to obtain players local to the Southwest region.
While the players and coaching staff will be announced over the course of the next few weeks, Bradbury said he has met with his current group of players and has expressed his short term and long term intentions for the team.
“In the long run, we’ll establish our style of play, what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it,” Bradbury said. “They’ve already been very receptive to kind of how we’re trying to do things.”
Incorporating his fast-paced dribble-drive offense will be a different look from Sanchez’s defense mentality. However, Bradbury said the offense he runs will lure recruits and hopes it will bring about more fans to WisePies Arena.
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
