LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KTSM) – New Mexico State has officially signed a contract with College Sports Solutions, a coaching search firm, to help the university find a new men’s basketball coach, university officials told KTSM on Friday.
The search firm is the first used by NMSU under current athletic director Mario Moccia for a coaching search during his time in Las Cruces. The idea behind the firm is to allow for a more thorough search, in an effort to prevent the amount of turmoil that embroiled the program under Greg Heiar during the 2022-23 season.
Heiar was fired and his entire coaching staff placed on administrative leave in February after the second scandal involving the program during his tenure as head coach. In November, NMSU forward Mike Peake was involved in a deadly shooting in Albuquerque and in February, an Aggies player made serious hazing allegations against three of his teammates in a NMSU police report.
Moccia said that there is no timeline for hiring a new men’s basketball coach, but that hiring a search firm shouldn’t slow down the process too much.
College Sports Solutions was founded in 2013 by current president Jeff Schemmel, who has survived in a variety of roles in college athletics. Schemmel was the athletic director at San Diego State and served in roles at the NCAA, Conference USA, the Mountain West Conference, as well as in roles at universities in the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences.
Unrelated to the coaching search, an NMSU official told KTSM that the Rodey Law Firm’s findings in an investigation commissioned by the school into the Nov. 19 shooting in Albuquerque should be released sometime in the next week.
That investigation is independent from the investigation currently being conducted by law enforcement and the Bernalillo County District Attorney. The D.A.’s office told KTSM last month that its investigation was still ongoing. No criminal charges have been filed against anyone affiliated with NMSU regarding the shooting.
NMSU has partnered with a separate law firm out of Florida for an independent investigation into the hazing allegations that will be conducted in conjunction with the school’s own Title IX investigation. While a police report was filed with New Mexico State University police, the victim did not want to press charges.
The Dona Ana County District Attorney told KTSM in February that they were still determining whether or not they would file charges in the hazing incident.
There is no timeline currently for the completion of the school’s investigation into the hazing incidents.
