By Daniel Libit
It was always only a matter of time.
Even before The Pit was renamed WisePies Arena, in December 2014, those negotiating the naming-rights deal on behalf of the University of New Mexico and UNM Foundation assumed it would never reach maturity. Continue reading “Here Lies WisePies: “Less is More””
By Daniel Libit
The UNM Foundation and University of New Mexico Board of Regents have now formally responded in court to our public records lawsuit, arguing, among other things, that the Foundation’s resistance to transparency is actually a defense of the First Amendment. Continue reading “UNM Fund: 1st Amendment Crusader?”
By Daniel Libit
There’s still much to sort out about the University of New Mexico’s spasmodic search to replace former men’s basketball coach Craig Neal, whose firing was announced minutes before midnight on March 31.
Thereafter, a number of names emerged from the fray — San Antonio Spurs assistant James Borrego, Florida Gulf Coach University’s Joe Dooley, UT Arlington’s Scott Cross, East Tennessee State’s Steve Forbes and, for the real fantasizers, recently deposed Indiana coach Tom Crean — only to retreat in succession, leading to the under-the-wire hire of New Mexico State’s Paul Weir.
What exactly was going on behind-the-scenes still remains something of a mystery, although UNM Athletic Director Paul Krebs has insisted that the process ultimately played out as it was supposed to. Continue reading “Dan Dakich: Krebs’ Coach Whisperer”
By Daniel Libit
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from UNM spokesperson Cinnamon Blair.
In direct response to NMFishbowl.com’s story last month about former Lobo basketball operations director Cody Hopkins, the University of New Mexico has now formally demanded Hopkins pay the school $63,411. That amount represents the sum total of all unreconciled charges a UNM Special Audit claimed Hopkins had put on his school Purchasing Card, regardless of whether the charges were for legitimate purposes.
The school’s demand was issued in a terse, one-page letter sent on March 15 by Kimberly Bell, UNM’s senior deputy counsel, to Hopkins’ lawyer Elizabeth Higginbotham. NMFishbowl.com recently obtained a copy of that letter through a public records request. In it, Bell writes that university officials “read with interest” the NMFishbowl.com article, and noted several “apparent admissions” Hopkins made, which included his failing to keep up with his P-Card reconciliations; forging signatures; and using the P-Card for personal or family expenses. Continue reading “UNM to Hopkins: Now Pay us $63K”
By Daniel Libit
NMFishbowl.com recently spoke with legendary journalist Dave Marash for his “HERE & THERE” podcast/radio show, where we discussed the Cody Hopkins saga and our public records lawsuit against the University of New Mexico Foundation. You can listen to the hour-long conversation by clicking here. We readily encourage you to do so.
Much like Craig Neal, The Fishbowl is taking a nice, long vacation, following a very mad March. (Regrettably, unlike Neal, the university is not paying us $1 million to do so.) We’ve also commenced several longer-term projects related to UNM Athletics, so the postings on this site will be relatively light over the next month or so. But take no comfort, Lobo obscurantists: we’ll be back, sooner than you’d like.
NMFishbowl.com 