You may wish to read Teddy Feinberg's/Las Cruces Sun-News commentary on New Mexico State basketball first before proceeding. You can find that here.
It's true that Marvin Menzies walked into a very good talent situation when he took the head coaching position at New Mexico State. His initial team played in the WAC title game as did his second outfit. But it was squads built on top of a quake zone and with a mirage-like quality -- meaning, any sort of a foundation was absent.
That's because the D-1 transfers that provided the bulk of talent and experience leading to the Aggies successes were to soon graduate. En masse. But it's also important to note that even this bunch included some talents who were not the most diligent of students. Some had to miss games and the New Mexico State APR number was also unsatisfactory per the NCAA.
The Reggie Theus years were a sort of harmonic convergence -- a rare event that is difficult to duplicate because of the many reasons it came together in the first place, not all necessarily because of who was in charge. Call it magical if you will.
As for "tantilizing prospects," inherited by Menzies, well, Herb Pope, Jonathan Gibson and Jahmar Young all came packaged with issues. Who really knows all that went on in Pope's situation but it didn't seem that much of a surprise to many when he departed for a school closer to home. Was this loss something to ding Menzies for? We can't see it.
Gibson has displayed a penchant for absenteeism regarding some of his commitments and that certainly reduced or eliminated his ability to perform in any sort of a leadership position, if he even desired to fill such a role. Again, we cannot disparage Menzies for this
Young has encountered a couple of past and present blips but seemingly was moving/had moved into the lead as the most influential Aggie. If we are incorrect then please let us know. Hopefully Young is but, if not, it's still not a knock on him or Menzies.
What can be laid at Menzies' feet is the student-athletes he has brought to Las Cruces. They can fairly be described as too often long-term projects and questionable 'classroomers' -- at least the individuals who were considered the future foundation that needed to be built.
We don't like naming names but this requires it be done. Troy Gillenwater has the potential to play at a Top 25 college but he didn't land anywhere near that and there are reasons why -- personal maturity and attitude towards the former in the student-athlete description. He was a gamble, one of a type many coaches will take but usually limiting it to one of such and usually if the team has some veterans whose influence rules the demeanor of the squad.
Wendell McKines is a loveable 'livewire' young man who doesn't offer any problems on the court but is deficient in self-disciplining the student portion of his life. He doesn't leave the west coast of California for college if not for his high school academics.
That made two academic risks.
There were/are young men with exceptional basketball potential but ones who needed extra time and attention with their off-court development. Now we don't know if this was provided -- maybe offered is a more accurate term -- but it seems safe to say if must have been because why would any coach bring in players, knowing they will struggle, and not offer concentrated assistance?
At the risk of repeating, these were gambles. So we see the success or failure of these two ventures ultimately depending upon how much these two young man could and would be willing to change, to transform parts of themselves.
Currently, the answer is not enough.
Again, did Coach Menzies think he had enough of the right players to positively influence Gillenwater and McKines? That seems like a stretch. Maybe he thought the coaching influence of he and his staff would suffice. If so on one or either, call it a miscalculation, or two.
Plus, Menzies' forays into recruiting players from Africa -- which may pay off down the line if there is one -- have yet to produce anything positive on the court. It is fine to do what he did but best if there is a productive team core already in place.
Maybe one of the 800 pound elephants in the room is recruiting to Las Cruces. Theus did it -- short term -- but almost exclusively with players looking for a second and last chance. Plus, Pope wasn't going to be at NMSU for four years even if Theus stayed. Coach T didn't build something for the next coach to add to -- it was more that a major rebuilding project would actually need to be undertaken. He wasn't going to be around long enough to bother with such. So can enough solid high school kids be lured to Las Cruces? We don't know the answer but it has yet to be done.
However, the bottomline is that coaches will remain or depart based upon who they recruit. That will play out positively or negatively for Coach Menzies.
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