NMSU officials address men’s basketball scandal

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A day after firing men’s basketball coach Greg Heiar, NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu and other university officials addressed the decision and what’s next for the Aggies.

The Aggies men’s basketball team is under fire amid hazing allegations. On Sunday, the rest of their season was canceled after a police report on the allegations was released.

Chancellor Arvizu described the men’s basketball program as “infected with a culture of bad behavior.”

When Heiar returned from the canceled game in California, he quickly said at the airport that he couldn’t talk about what had happened. Between that moment and the announcement of his termination Tuesday, Heir reportedly blew off a meeting with university officials looking into the hazing allegations.

“They had scheduled a meeting, internally, and that meeting was to be held earlier this week,” Arvizu said. “The coach, uh, declined to show up.”

As far as the future of the basketball program, Athletic Director Mario Moccia said he has been in touch with the WAC – the conference they play in now – and Conference USA, where they plan on playing next season. Moccia said they are on the same page with the firing and no plans have changed as far as competing in Conference USA next year.

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