NMSU officials address basketball problems

LAS CRUCES — The rebuild begins.

New Mexico State University officials at a news conference Wednesday said the once-proud men’s basketball program has become “infected” and that additional student-athletes and coaches could face discipline in connection with a hazing scandal that prompted university officials to cancel the remainder of the season and fire the first-year head coach.

NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu said the university fired coach Greg Heiar for cause and did not enter a settlement with him. Heiar was under contract through the 2027 season, with a base salary of $300,000 per year.

Arvizu, at a lectern with multiple news media microphones aimed toward him, spoke days after a hazing scandal came to light that included allegations of false imprisonment and criminal sexual conduct by members of the team against another teammate. His words came on the heels of the Tuesday evening announcement that Heiar had been terminated.

Among the revelations Wednesday, Heiar hired his own attorney following a November shooting in Albuquerque involving one of his players — the first scandal in his brief career at NMSU — and this week he skipped an interview with investigators acting on behalf of the university who are looking into that incident, Arvizu said.

Striking a somber tone at the gathering Wednesday, Arvizu said student safety is the top priority, followed by the integrity of the institution.

“As a parent, as an administrator, as a member of our community, my alma mater, I am both disgusted and angry with what has occurred,” he said. “We have looked and conducted an expansive review of our programs, and everything that I have learned is that our men’s basketball program has been infected by a culture of bad behavior.

“There have been some egregious violations of our student code of conduct and there have been, essentially, other despicable acts.”

Arvizu said he believes the problems are confined to the men’s basketball program.

Director of Athletics Mario Moccia confirmed Wednesday that NMSU is planning to play men’s basketball next year.

“Our focus right now is not to rush out and seek a new coach, he said. “We’re trying to get a resolution to this circumstance, but we certainly intend on playing basketball next year.”

Earlier scandal

The program has been under scrutiny since November, when then-team member Mike Peake was involved in a fatal shooting on the University of New Mexico campus.

Police have said a group of UNM students lured Peake to campus to attack him while the Aggies were in town for their scheduled Nov. 19 rivalry game against the Lobos. One UNM student, Brandon Travis, was shot to death by Peake in the struggle, and Peake was shot and injured as well. Only UNM students have been charged in the shooting.

An investigation revealed that players were out late the night before the game, and that the team left on a bus back to Las Cruces while police were still trying to obtain the firearm that Peake reportedly used.

That response raised questions about New Mexico State University’s handling of the episode. Both the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office and an external third-party investigator hired by NMSU are examining the incident.

Asked Wednesday why Heiar wasn’t fired after that incident, Arvizu said Heiar hired an attorney after the shooting and didn’t show up for a meeting with the investigators.

“It’s been difficult to interview him,” the chancellor said.

Heiar declined to comment.

Moving forward, Arvizu said the fate of the rest of the coaching staff and players on the team will be determined after the university investigations are finished. He said some student-athletes are going through disciplinary hearings and they could face a number of penalties depending on the outcome, including expulsion from school.

One and done

Heiar was in his first year at the program after replacing Chris Jans, who won a Western Athletic Championship and an NCAA tournament game in 2022. Jans now coaches Mississippi State University.

“I regret the outcome,” Moccia said of the decision to hire Heiar. “We’ve had an excellent batting average. Nobody bats a thousand. But I am certainly tremendously disappointed in this outcome. Specifically, for the victim but for everybody involved. So we’ll go back and look at our processes.”

Moccia and Arvizu spoke for about 30 minutes during Wednesday’s news conference, which was also attended by dozens of Aggie supporters, and Arvizu expressed confidence in Moccia.

“He still has my complete confidence to turn this program around,” Arvizu said. “Clearly, there are some issues that we need to see. Why did it take so long to understand that there was an issue? We will get to the bottom of that.”

Arvizu said the issue is “partially a coach responsibility, partially a process responsibility.”

“The oversight of that is in question, and we’ll continue to look into that,” he said.

Arvizu said he became aware of the hazing allegations the same day that they were reported in the media more than a week ago.

“I can assure you that, certainly, certain members of the administration, myself included, were not aware of any of those allegations or even incidents before they were reported,” Arvizu said. “It’s that process that I think has given me pause to say, ‘Why not?’”

A redacted police report shows the hazing may have risen to a criminal level, possibly false imprisonment and criminal sexual contact.