ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It was be a father versus son battle at the Pit in December as UNM and Iona head coaches Richard and Rick Pitino have agreed to a home and home. The Lobos will host Rick and the Gaels on December 18 and travel to Iona at a date to be determined. Earlier this year, Rick Pitino made a trip to Albuquerque to see his son and spoke on the venue his team will now play in. “You know, this is one of the great venues in all of college basketball, top five without question.”
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Sticking on the hardwood as a former Aggie Trevelin Quees has been named the NBA G-League MVP. The former NMSU and current Rio Grande Valley Vipers star averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.3 steals this season in 19 games. He was also a two way player for the Rockets and played in 10 games for Houston.
Also, Lori Mabrey is back on the sidelines. The former Cibola girls basketball coach has accepted the same position at Rio Rancho. Mabrey coached the Cougars for 16 seasons and won a state title in 2015.
“I really enjoyed being there my first go around as an assistant coach under Bobby McIntyre,” said Mabrey. “So, I am super excited to be back at Rio Rancho.”
Meanwhile, Jackson and Wink trained fighter Chris Brown is getting back in the octagon. Following a win in January, Brown is already stepping back in and will fight in the PFL Challenger Series 8 main event. Brown participated in weigh-ins on Thursday and said he is looking to improve on his three fight win streak.
“I feel great, I am just going to keep winning and keep doing what I have been doing,” Brown said. “I have just been sharpening up my skills. My striking is going to shine, he is more of a brawler and I am more of a finesser. I think I am way too dynamic for what he is bringing to the table.”
In other news, Rio Grande baseball coach Orlando Griego is approaching his 400th career win. He will have the opportunity to reach the milestone on Saturday as the Ravens will host the Manzano Monarchs.
“I think it’s a celebration not for myself, but for all of the people that have been a part of it,” said Griego. “For that group of five guys that I talked about and then a few kids that came after them, like Matt Ray and Eric Mayberry. You know, those guys, when they came to Rio Grande, we started winning.”
While Griego has left his mark at Rio Grande, he said that his greatest accomplishment is the type of impact that he has left on his players.
“We’ve graduated over 99 percent of our baseball players here at Rio Grande and I’m also proud of the 135 kids that we’ve sent on to go play college baseball.”