Jack Nixon is back with a must-read about building a team and building a program

Notice that we are calling Nixon's article a must-read -- not necessarily a must agree.

There will be those who differ from Nixon's take but the subject matter presented is the most critical one about New Mexico State men's basketball.

Reggie Theus built a team -- a very successful one -- but designed for the very short term. There's nothing wrong with that and Theus absolutely deserves credit for what he and his players achieved.

Marvin Menzies is taking a different approach -- laying the foundation for a program -- one that will provide the opportunity for long term consistency.

To compare Theus and Menzies at this point (as some are wont to do) is an apples and oranges analogy. Attempting to win with transfer and junior college players requires a much briefer outcome measurement cycle versus working towards success with underclassmen.

Jack's Corner-Something Completely Different
Courtesy: New Mexico State University
3/03/2009

This year’s Aggie basketball team is an anomaly. In many ways it is something that fans have never had before them on the Pan American Center parquet. Head coach Marvin Menzies is solely looking at freshmen to build the program. No junior college transfers, no four-year fugitives, just fuzzy cheeked first-year players who are sold on being the mainstays for their time in Las Cruces. Not that there is anything wrong with Juco’s or other D-I transfers, the records books at New Mexico State are littered with those who came from somewhere else and had personal and team success.

Menzies pointed out recently to me that bringing in a transfer of any kind would send a negative message to the players who are on scholarship already. He feels that bringing in someone over those who are developing would hurt those players trust in him. For this reason, his approach is something that is brand new to any fans that started following the Aggies in the Pan Am center...

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