Richard Pitino has a specific "vibe" he recruits for, and if you've watched the Pit at all lately, you know exactly what that means. It’s track-meet basketball. It’s downhill pressure. But keeping a New Mexico Lobos roster together in the era of the transfer portal is basically like trying to hold water in a sieve. You’re always losing something out of the bottom while trying to pour more in the top.
People get obsessed with the stars who left, but the real story is in who stayed and how the new pieces fit into a very specific, high-altitude system.
The Pit is a different beast. Playing there at 5,000-plus feet above sea level isn't just a gimmick; it’s a roster-building philosophy. If you aren't deep, you're dead by the under-eight timeout in the second half. This year's squad is a weird, fascinating mix of Mountain West veterans and some "bet on yourself" transfers that have the fan base somewhere between cautiously optimistic and completely terrified.
The Core: Why the New Mexico Lobos Roster Still Scares People
Look, everyone talked about the backcourt departures. It sucked for fans. But the reality of modern college hoops is that the New Mexico Lobos roster is now a year-to-year construction project.
The 2024-2025 campaign (and looking into the 2026 horizon) hinges on whether the Lobos can maintain that identity of being the fastest team in the gym. Donovan Dent is the engine. Period. If Dent isn't on the floor, the offense looks like it's stuck in mud. He’s one of those rare guards who actually plays faster with the ball than without it. When you look at the stat sheet, you see the points, but the real value is how he forces the opposing defense to collapse, opening up lanes for the wings.
Then you've got the Nelly Junior Joseph factor.
He’s a walking double-double. Seriously. The way he anchors the paint allows Pitino to play those aggressive, gambling perimeter schemes. Without a rim protector like Joseph, the whole "Lobos style" falls apart because the guards would be too scared to jump passing lanes. He's the safety net.
The New Faces and the "Portal" Gamble
Pitino went hunting in the portal again, and he didn't just look for talent; he looked for chips on shoulders. You see guys coming in from high-major programs where they sat on the bench, or mid-majors where they were the big fish in a small pond.
- CJ Noland: He’s a tank. He brings that physical North-South driving ability that the Mountain West requires. If you can't handle contact in this league, you're going to get bullied.
- Atlan Coleman: People are sleeping on his ceiling. He’s got that "long" frame that coaches drool over for zone presses.
- Filip Borovicanin: Coming over from Arizona, he’s a bit of a wildcard. He didn’t get the minutes in Tucson, but his skill set is basically a "Swiss Army Knife" for a team that needs secondary playmaking.
It’s not just about the names on the back of the jersey. It’s about the chemistry. You can't just throw five talented dudes on the court and expect them to handle the noise in Albuquerque. It takes a certain kind of ego—or lack thereof—to play in a system where the ball moves this fast.
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Breaking Down the Frontcourt Depth
The biggest misconception about the New Mexico Lobos roster is that they are just a "guard school." Wrong.
While the guards get the highlights on social media, the Mountain West is a "big man" league. If you can't rebound in Laramie or Logan, you're losing by twenty. This year, the Lobos have tried to bolster the size behind Nelly Junior Joseph. You need bodies. You need fouls to give.
Mustapha Amzil is the "glue." He’s not going to lead the league in scoring, but he hits the shots that break the other team's spirit. You know the ones—trailing three-pointers at the top of the key when the defense thinks they’ve finally forced a stop. That’s the Amzil special. His veteran presence is basically a coaching extension on the floor.
Why Altitude Matters for Roster Rotation
Most fans don't think about the bench until a starter gets two fouls in the first five minutes. For UNM, the bench is a tactical weapon.
Pitino likes to run. To run, you need ten guys who can play at least eight minutes of high-intensity ball. This year's depth is... interesting. It’s younger than previous years. That's a risk. Young guys miss rotations. Young guys forget to box out on the weak side. But young guys also have the legs to press for forty minutes.
The rotation usually looks like this:
- The "Chaos" Starters: High pressure, fast transition.
- The "Stabilizers": Usually involving Amzil and a backup PG to settle things down.
- The "Energy" Unit: Freshmen and sophomores who are essentially there to burn calories and annoy the opposing ball-handler.
The Mountain West Gauntlet
Honestly, the New Mexico Lobos roster isn't just competing against itself; it's competing against a league that has become a multi-bid monster. San Diego State isn't going anywhere. Boise State is always physical. Utah State finds gems in the portal like it’s their job.
To win the conference, New Mexico has to find a way to win on the road. The Pit is a fortress, but the roster has historically struggled when they have to play in front of 500 people in a cold gym on a Tuesday night in a different time zone.
That’s where the leadership of guys like Donovan Dent becomes the deciding factor.
Dealing With the Expectations
Albuquerque is a basketball town. Football is fine, but the Lobos are the pro team of New Mexico. When the roster is winning, the city is electric. When they drop two in a row, the sky is falling.
That pressure does things to players. Some thrive on it—they love the "Lobo, Lobo, Lobo" chants. Others shrink. This specific roster feels like it was built with "mental toughness" as a primary recruiting metric. You don't bring in guys like Kayde Dotson or the other incoming freshmen unless you think they can handle a crowd that knows their stats better than they do.
What’s Missing?
If we’re being real, the one thing this New Mexico Lobos roster might lack is a knockdown, 40-percent-from-three specialist who does nothing else.
They have "scorers," sure. But they don't have that one guy who makes the defense stay glued to the perimeter even when the ball is on the other side of the court. Without a "gravity" shooter, the lane can get clogged for Dent. If the Lobos struggle this year, it’ll be because teams are packing the paint and daring them to hit jump shots.
It’s a gamble. Pitino is betting that transition points will outweigh the need for half-court shooting.
Practical Takeaways for the Season
If you're following the Lobos this year, don't just look at the final score. Look at the "Points in Transition" and the "Defensive Rebounding Percentage." Those are the two numbers that tell you if this roster is working.
- Watch the first 4 minutes of the second half. That’s when the altitude usually starts hitting the visiting team. If the Lobos roster is deep enough, they’ll blow games open right there.
- Keep an eye on the foul count for Nelly Junior Joseph. If he’s in trouble, the Lobos have to play small-ball, which is fun but dangerous against teams with real centers.
- Identify the "X-Factor" bench player. Every year, one guy from the end of the bench becomes a cult hero in Albuquerque. Usually, it’s a guy who plays hard-nosed defense and hits one big shot.
The New Mexico Lobos roster is a work in progress, but the foundation is solid. It’s a team built for the Pit, built for speed, and built to annoy every other coach in the Mountain West. Whether that translates to a deep run in March depends entirely on how the new portal additions gel with the established stars by mid-January.
The talent is there. The coaching is there. Now, it’s just about whether they can survive the meat-grinder of a conference that expects a win every single night.
To stay ahead of the curve, keep an eye on the mid-week injury reports and the minutes distribution. In a system this fast, a "minor" ankle sprain for a key guard can change the entire trajectory of a three-game road trip. Monitor the defensive efficiency ratings on KenPom as the season progresses; if the Lobos stay in the top 50, they're a lock for the tournament.
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Actionable Next Steps:
- Track the "Home vs. Away" splits: Watch how the shooting percentages for the new transfers dip on the road to see who the real "gamers" are.
- Monitor the Transfer Portal windows: Even during the season, names start floating around for the next cycle. UNM is always a player here.
- Check the Net Ranking daily: In the Mountain West, your roster's value is tied to the strength of the whole conference. A win against a "down" UNLV team hurts more than it helps.
- Follow local beat writers: Guys like Geoff Grammer provide the granular detail on practice rotations that you won't get from a national box score.