On Tuesday, the New Mexico men’s basketball team celebrated the recognition of three members by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) with the announcement of the All-District Teams. Donovan Dent and Nelly Junior Joseph were both named to the first team for the All-Mountain District, while Richard Pitino received the Coach of the Year honor for the Mountain District.
The NABC Mountain District includes all Division I teams from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
Dent was acknowledged as a first-team NABC All-District player for the second year in a row. The 2024-25 Mountain West Player of the Year, he is the first player in conference history to average 20 points and six assists during league play. He also became the 14th player in NCAA history to achieve over 600 points and 200 assists in a single regular season, ranking in the top 15 nationally for both scoring (20.6 points) and assists (6.4 assists).
Joseph garnered his third selection to the NABC All-District first team, having previously been honored in 2022 and 2023 while playing for Iona. A first-team All-Mountain West player, he is the only individual in the conference and one of just 11 players nationally to average a double-double this season, with statistics of 14.0 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. He secured 16 double-doubles this season, placing him 10th nationally.
Pitino was awarded his second NABC District Coach of the Year title, having received similar recognition in 2017 while at Minnesota. As the Mountain West Coach of the Year, he guided the Lobos to a regular season championship with a 17-3 record, which matches the Mountain West’s record for the most conference wins in a season. Under his leadership, UNM achieved 26 wins this season and made its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Lobos (26-7) are set as the No. 10 seed in the South Region of the 2025 NCAA Tournament and will kick off their journey on Friday against the No. 7 seed Marquette. The game will take place at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, starting at 7:25 pm ET (5:25 pm MT) and will be broadcasted on TBS.
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