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- Head Men’s Basketball Coach
NCAA Champion, All-American, and Olympic Gold Medalist Steve Alford enters his sixth season at the helm of the Wolf Pack program in 2024-25. Alford is in his 34th season overall as a head coach, boasting a career record of 683-357.
Alford’s career-win total of 683 victories places him 11th among all active Division I coaches in career wins. Alford also ranks third all-time and second among active coaches in career Mountain West victories (122).
Heading into the 2024-25 campaign, Alford has the Wolf Pack continuing its upward momentum on the heels of back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. Nevada earned an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament and finished the 2023-24 season with a 26-8 overall record while going 13-5 and finishing tied for second in a highly-competitive Mountain West which earned a record six bids to the Big Dance.
Over his five seasons at the Wolf Pack helm, Alford has won 96 games (an average of 19.2 per season), and, over the past two seasons, gone an impressive 29-3 (.906) at Lawlor Events Center.
The 2024-25 campaign featured numerous high points, including Alford leading the Wolf Pack back into the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2019. Furthermore, four members of the Wolf Pack were named All-Mountain West following the regular season: Jarod Lucas (Second Team), Kenan Blackshear (Second Team), Nick Davidson (Third Team), and Tré Coleman (All-Defensive Team).
Lucas had a sensational season for the Pack. Appearing in and starting all 34 games, Lucas averaged a career-high 17.8 points per game on 42.1 percent shooting from the field, 39.4 percent from behind the arc, and 89.9 percent at the free throw line.
In Mountain West play, Lucas completed the regular season ranked second in the Mountain West in scoring (17.8 PPG), second in free throw percentage (90.1%), second in made free throws (155), third in made 3-pointers (75), and ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (40.1%).
During his time at Nevada, Alford has mentored three Mountain West Newcomers of the Year (Jarod Lucas, 2022-23; Grant Sherfield, 2020-21; Jalen Harris, 2019-20), the program’s first Mountain West Freshman of the Year (Darrion Williams, 2022-23), a Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year (Nisré Zouzoua, 2019-20), two Mountain West All-Defensive Team selections (Tre Coleman, 2022-23; Kenan Blackshear, 2022-23), and nine All-Mountain West selections, including first-teamers Harris and Sherfield.
The 2022-23 campaign displayed Alford’s ability to tap the full potential of his roster. After losing 58.1 percent of the scoring output from the previous season to the transfer portal, and losing seniors K.J. Hymes and Hunter McIntosh to injury at the beginning of the season, Alford led the Pack to a 22-11 overall record, fourth-place finish in the Mountain West, and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2018-19 season. The 22 wins marked one of the biggest turnarounds in all of Division I, as the Pack increased their win total by nine from the previous season.
Nevada had an impressive outing at the 2022 Cayman Islands Classic at the beginning of the season, claiming a third-place finish in the outstanding field. Nevada earned victories over Tulane and Akron, while only suffering one defeat at the hands of Kansas State, an 87-96 overtime loss in the semifinal round to the Wildcats who went on to win the tournament.
Nevada produced an exceptional record of 14-1 on their home court, and the team earned back-to-back victories over ranked opponents at Lawlor for the first time in program history, beating #25 New Mexico (1/23/23) before taking down #22 San Diego State (1/31/23).
The Pack matched a program record following the completion of the regular season, as five different players earned All-MW recognition. Nevada also set a program record by obtaining seven different All-MW awards by players only.
Nevada earned its 10th NCAA Tournament berth in program history following the completion of the regular season, marking Alford’s 12th career appearance in the tournament. The selection also signified the fifth different school that Alford has taken to the NCAA Division I Tournament, making him just one of four coaches throughout history to accomplish the feat (Lon Kruger, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith).
Alford was named the NABC District 17 Coach of the Year at the end of the season, and Blackshear garnered First Team All-District honors while Lucas was named to the All-District Second Team.
In the 2020-21 campaign, Alford also showcased his ability to make the most of his roster. Entering the season returning just 20 percent of the scoring output from the previous year’s team, Alford’s young Wolf Pack squad opened up by capturing the Golden Window Classic title, highlighted by a last-second victory over Nebraska on the Cornhuskers’ home court.
Nevada would navigate the challenges and turns of a season operating under the increased safety protocols as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, going 16-10 overall and reaching the Mountain West Championship semifinals.
The 2019-20 campaign was highlighted by Alford winning his 600th-career game Jan. 25, 2020, when Nevada defeated New Mexico 96-74 at Lawlor Events Center. The win made him, at the time, the 16th active NCAA Division I coach to reach the 600-win mark.
Alford became the first coach to win two Paradise Jam titles as the Pack swept the field, winning all three games by double figures in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2012, he led his New Mexico squad to the title. Junior Jalen Harris was the MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Jazz Johnson.
Four members of Alford’s first Nevada team garnered postseason honors led by Harris. Harris was named to the NABC and USBWA all-district teams after leading the Mountain West in scoring at 21.6 points per game. He was also a Mountain West coaches and media first team selection. Three times he was named the Mountain West Player of the Week, and on Feb. 9 was the Oscar Robertson Player of the Week. He scored 30 or more points six times including becoming the first Pack player with four-consecutive games of 30 or more points.
Johnson was named to the Mountain West coaches second team and media third team. Senior Nizre Zouzoua was the Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year as selected by the coaches and media. Johnson earned the Sixth Man of the Year honor in 2019. Another of the Pack seniors, Lindsey Drew, was named the Mountain West All-Defensive team for the second time in his career and was an honorable mention pick by the coaches and media. He was named the Mountain West Player of the Week the first week of the season.
Alford, a highly successful coach with 11 NCAA Tournament berths and four Sweet 16 appearances, signed a 10-year deal to lead Nevada.
Alford is the 19th coach in the history of the Nevada program. Alford has a career record of 683-357 (.657) in 33 seasons as a collegiate head coach and is 605-328 (.648) in 29 seasons as a Division I head coach.
No stranger to the Mountain West, Alford led New Mexico to four regular season and two tournament titles in six seasons (2007-14) as the Lobos head coach. In 2009, 2010 and 2013 he was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year. He posted a record of 155-52 at New Mexico and was 68-26 in conference play. Three of his New Mexico players; JR Giddens (2008), Darington Hobson (2010) and Kendal Williams (2013) were named Mountain West Player of the Year. The Lobos 30 wins in 2012 and 29 in 2013 are the two highest win totals in program history. The 2012 and 2013 teams secured No. 3 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, which tied New Mexico’s record for highest-seeded team.
In 17 seasons he has led his teams to 20 or more wins, and thrice to 30 or more victories. His 2016-17 UCLA squad posted a 31-5 record with the 28 regular-season victories tying the Bruins’ record for wins.
During his UCLA tenure he coached 11 NBA Draft picks, including seven first-rounders: Zach Lavine, Jordan Adams, and Kyle Anderson (2014), Kevon Looney (2015), Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf (2017), and Aaron Holiday (2018). While at New Mexico, JR Giddens and Tony Snell were first-round NBA picks.
At Manchester College, Alford earned conference coach of the year honors three times. The 1994-95 team was inducted into the school’s hall of fame and in 1999 Alford was inducted into the Manchester Hall of Fame.
As a college senior Alford led Indiana to the 1987 NCAA Championship. Playing his Hoosier career under legendary head coach Bob Knight, the 1983 Indiana Mr. Basketball was a two-time consensus NCAA All-American (1986-87), a three-time selection to the All-Big Ten First Team, and the Big Ten MVP in 1987. He ended his collegiate career as Indiana’s all-time leading scorer, with 2,438 points, and ranks second in the Hoosier record book through the 2020-21 season.
At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Alford earned gold with the United States team coached by Knight, which was also the last United States’ amateur team to win Olympic Gold.
Against France Aug. 3, 1984, Alford set the USA Basketball Olympic single-game record for field-goal percentage, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the field.
In 1997 he was inducted into the Indiana University Hall of Fame and in 2001 was one 15 players named to Indiana’s All-Century team.