Steve Alford hired: UCLA brings in New Mexico coach to replace Ben Howland

Steve Alford signed a 10-year contract extension to stay at the University of New Mexico on Wednesday, March 27. He held a press conference and talked about how committed he was to building UNM into one of the best college basketball programs in the country.

About 72 hours later, Alford made the decision to leave the Albuquerque deserts for the palm tress of Los Angeles after accepting UCLA’s offer to become their next head coach.

Steve Alford is officially the next head coach of the UCLA Bruins. His decision to leave New Mexico was a surprising one given the 10-year contract extension he just signed, although there is no denying UCLA is one of the top jobs in the country.

There was no shortage of reaction from Twitter in the moments following Alford’s decision. Here is what some of college basketball’s leading analysts had to say about the hire.

With the job now open in Albuquerque, the Lobos have wasted no time getting their program’s foot back in the ground. Associate head coach Craig Neal, who has worked under Alford since 2004, has been named the interim coach, according to a tweet from Andy Katz.

As names start to trickle out about possible permanent replacements at New Mexico, many feel Neal should have the interim tag removed and become the next head coach. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports and Seth Greenberg, a former head coach now working at ESPN, are just a few of the analysts who think Neal would be a solid hire.

Covering Alford’s buyout is key considering, in the week before the No. 3 Lobos were bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the first round by No. 14 Harvard, New Mexico announced it would be extending Alford’s contract for 10 years and give him a $240,000 annual raise.

While at New Mexico, Alford, 48, led the Lobos to three NCAA Tournament appearances and put them on top of an increasingly competitive Mountain West.