LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KTSM) — The final remnants of the 2022-23 New Mexico State men’s basketball team, a team that was at the center of two major off the court scandals — a deadly shooting involving an NMSU basketball player in Albuquerque in Nov. 2022 and hazing allegations within the team — departed the program on Sunday.
The final player from last season’s squad, guard Anthony Roy, entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, per Verbal Commits.
With Roy’s entry into the transfer portal, every single player from the 2022-23 roster is now no longer with the program.
As far as the coaching staff members from the 2022-23 team, they are all no longer with the program as well.
April 30 is the expiration date for the year-to-year agreements that all of former NMSU head coach Greg Heiar’s assistants were working under.
On Sunday, a New Mexico State University spokesperson told KTSM that the year-to-year contracts of Associate Head Coach Dominique Taylor; Assistant Coaches Brian Merritt and Chad Myers; Director of Basketball Operations Chad Donley; Video Coordinator Billy Keys; Director of Player Development Darin Graham; Heiar’s Special Assistant Lorenzo Jenkins; and Graduate Assistant Dylan Brown expired and would not be renewed by the school.
All eight assistant coaches were placed on paid administrative leave on Feb. 10 after hazing allegations within the team surfaced which led to NMSU canceling the remainder of the men’s basketball season two days later.
All eight assistant coaches remained on paid administrative leave until Sunday, the day their year-to-year contracts expired, per a NMSU spokesperson.
New Mexico State men’s basketball head coach Jason Hooten now has a fresh, clean slate to work with as the program approaches the 2023-24 season.
Hooten has hired three assistant coaches (Kenneth Mangrum, Payne Andrus, Zach Settembre), plus a graduate assistant (Terryonte Thomas), all of whom are already in Las Cruces and helping Hooten get started. He’d like to add two more assistants to the fold.
The Aggies have signed three players for Hooten’s first NMSU squad (Keylon Dorsey, Jaden Harris, Monzy Jackson), with 10 more spots to fill as he completely overhauls the roster.
