It's day eight of The Daily Aggie international version. This week both Aggie basketball teams have two games each. The women host Lamar tomorrow night in the Pan Am and then travel to Albuquerque on Friday for Round 2 of the Rio Grande Rivalry. The men kick off the week on Wednesday, the day of our return, for Round 2 of the Rio Grande Rivalry. Both teams will be looking for the sweep. The men will then take on Louisville on Saturday evening. It will be interesting to see what impact Jahmar Young will have on the court. As we said last week, we've seen him shoot around a couple times and we know it's a bit of a cliche but he's got a silky smooth stroke. Before one game, he shot around for roughly ten minutes and probably missed two or three shots the entire time. Obviously most players will make most of their shots when nobody's guarding them, but the only other person we've seen do that was Utah State's Jaycee Carroll (who is still our favorite non-NMSU player). We're excited to see what Young can do.

A victory tomorrow for the ladies would mark their 300th win in the Pan Am. A victory on Wednesday for the men would mark their first road victory. A victory for the ladies on Friday would be their first sweep of the Lobos since, well, we're not sure but it's been at least 11 years (the Aggies won 16 games in a row in the series prior to UNM's lengthy streak). A victory for the Aggie men on Saturday would not only be another road victory but would be a signature victory for the non-conference schedule and would certainly launch the Aggies into the conference season on a high note. And yes, we do realize that there is one more non-conference game after Louisville but we don't expect the Aggies to have much trouble with Alcorn State.

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The Daily Aggie would like to extend our condolences to the entire Steinmetz family today. As our volleyball expert Mel mentioned, volleyball player Alex Steinmetz's father was killed in a plane crash yesterday afternoon.

Today the women's basketball team hosts Wichita State at 3:05 p.m. The Aggies are coming an eight day layoff, their second long break of the young season. The Aggies sit at 6-2 and their only two losses have been close defeats to UTEP. How good is the start for the women's team? So good that Associate Athletic Director Steve Macy openly talked about the Aggies, should they continue to win games, perhaps cracking the Top 25. So good that Charlie Creme of ESPN.com has the Aggies, yes our Aggies, as the NCAA Tournament representative from the WAC in his latest Bracketology, in fact not only does he have NMSU in, he has UTEP and New Mexico on the outside looking in.

There is one thing that we'd like to stress when talking about this season, we will not refer to this season as a "special" season. That implies that this is a once in a while occurrence. We believe that this season is the beginning of a long stretch of excellence for Aggie women's basketball, Coach Spence is building a program, not a season.

As for the men, the next two opponents for the Aggies, New Mexico and Louisville were both in action on Saturday. New Mexico defeated Texas Tech in The Sinkhole, a return game from last season when Bob Knight notched victory #880 and became the all-time winningest men's basketball coach in NCAA history (the all time winningest coach is Pat Summit of the Tennessee Lady Vols, just FYI). While the Lobos were winning at home, the Louisville Cardinals, once a Top 10 team, fell on the road to Purdue and will almost certainly fall out of the Top 25 this week.

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It's day six of the international version of The Daily Aggie. If you haven't heard yet, Jahmar Young has been cleared to play by the NCAA and will suit up against the Lobos on Wednesday night. We've seen him shoot around a little bit before games before both teams come out for their pregame warm ups and we are very excited to see what he can do on the court. Having several days before the next game will also help, being able to practice over the weekend and three days next week, we expect to see about 15 to 20 minutes of playing time for Young in the New Mexico game (possibly more depending on how quickly he picks up Coach Menzies' system).

Today is graduation day for 21 student-athletes and we've said it a couple times this week but congratulations to all those who are walking across the stage today.

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Our workday was cut short by a tropical rainstorm here in Ecuador, well not actually a tropical rainstorm in the sense that it was pouring but more in the sense of the media's literal interpretation of Londale Theus quitting the Aggie basketball team (i.e., it was drizzling and since our work is done outside on 15kV power lines, well you get the picture). Anyway, the newest news of the day is that the Aggies lose one player and gain another. Jahmar Young has been cleared to play by the NCAA eligibility center. In our best Mr. Burns voice we say "eeeexxxxxcellllllent" now FREE HERB POPE!.

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The news of the morning is that there are no more people bearing the last name Theus in New Mexico State's basketball program. Londale has decided to transfer to another school to get more playing time. We don't really blame him, with the talent on the team this season (including the two players still awaiting clearance) and the players coming in next season, it's hard to believe that Londale would be able to crack the starting lineup or increase his minutes. That's certainly no knock on Londale, we think he can be a very good player, unfortunately for him, his role during the past two seasons has mainly been mop up duty and that was not going to change any time soon.

The only thing we don't like is the headline this story garnered, 'Londale Theus Quits Team'. Technically yes, he quit the team, however he's seeking what's best for him and that just happens to be transferring somewhere that he can play more minutes. Players transfer all the time for various reasons and to label Londale as a "quitter" is unfair to him. Do you think that the headlines in Salt Lake City, Utah and Manhattan, Kansas said 'Justin Hawkins Quits Utah Utes' or 'Fred Peete Quits Kansas State'? We highly doubt it and it shouldn't have in this case either.

This is the last day of finals and we'd like to again congratulate each and every student-athlete who will walk across the stage tomorrow to get their diploma. Jason Connor, Xardiel Cotto and Jeremy Uhl of the baseball team, Laura Dorman and Marisa Propsner of the equestrian team, Brandon Allen, Justine Buries (who still has one year of eligibility left), Gill Byrd, Nick Cleaver, Derek Dubois, Adam Honaker, Akieem Jolla, Sauasta Tony Joseph, Jared Kaufman and Skylar Sargent from the football team, Freddy Esparza from the golf team, Samantha Dillard from the softball team, Lehua Wise from the women's golf team, Bobbi Wahle from the swimming and diving team, Nicole Fintell from the women's tennis team and last but certainly not least Jordan Bostic from the volleyball team. CONGRATULATIONS!

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It's day four of the international version of The Daily Aggie. It's a very quiet week in Aggie Country as the student-athletes finish up finals. Only one game, NMSU's victory over Prairie View A&M, is being played this week. The next time an Aggie team is in competition is Sunday when the women's basketball team takes on Wichita State.

While the women sit at 6-2 on the season, the men are 4-7 heading into the final three games of the non-conference portion of their schedule. At first glance one might be inclined to think that the Aggies are struggling this season, and they are to a certain degree, however, the deeper look at the records of those teams that beat them reveals that the Aggies seven losses have come to some good and some very good basketball teams. The combined record of the teams that the Aggies have lost to is 42-7. Ohio is 6-2 and defeated Maryland in College Park, MD last night and they've got a date with #3 Kansas on Saturday, Duke is undefeated at 9-0 and has beaten two top 25 teams this season (#20 Wisconsin, #12 Marquette), Texas is also 9-0 and recently defeated then #1 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion and beat then #7 Tennessee rather soundly at the Legends Classic, West Virginia is 7-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of then #7 Tennessee at the aforementioned Legends Classic, UTEP who defeated the Aggies twice is 6-2 with their only losses coming at then #15 Texas A&M (now #12) and at UNLV, and finally North Texas is 6-2 with their signature win coming over Oklahoma State (and obviously their comeback from 22 down at NMSU). It's clear the Aggies have faced a much tougher non-conference schedule than most teams and their four wins and seven losses reflect that. Those seven losses have also been suffered without two standout freshmen in Herb Pope and Jahmar Young who undoubtedly would have made an impact in at least four of those losses (possibly turning losses into wins).

If you didn't catch reader Roberto's links in The Daily Aggie's comments section yesterday, then you missed out on a great post from CollegeHoopsNet regarding Herb Pope. This gets our vote for Aggie-related blog post of the year.

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It's day three of the international version of The Daily Aggie. Last night the Aggies did what good teams are supposed to do, blow out an inferior opponent. The Aggies defeated whipped Prairie View A&M by a final score of 80-43. Much to our delight Jonathan Gibson got more playing time and he did not disappoint. Gibson finished with 18 points in 26 minutes of action. While the finals stats don't show it Jonathan with any steals or rebounds, we're pretty sure that at least in the first half he came up with a couple loose balls off missed shots and deflections. On the evening 14 different Aggies played in the game and only Trey Britt, Londale Theus, DeAngelo Jones and Jalen Dominguez failed to score in their limited minutes. One noticeable absence for the Aggies was Justin Hawkins. Hawkins sat out for two reasons. One he had a sore hamstring and two his wife is/was expecting their first child. Congratulations Justin (on the baby, not the hamstring). The Aggies have a few days off and their next game will be at New Mexico. The Aggies have lost by a total of six points in their last two trips to Albuquerque. The game in Las Cruces was an Aggie victory and we expect the same in Albuquerque. If the Aggies get out and guard Chad Toppert this time, we have a hard time believing that the Lobos will be able to survive another trip to 'Hatiwendelliti'.

What we didn't like: Free Throws. This is really the only thing not to like about the outcome of last night's game. The Aggies shot a measly 4-15 (27%) from the free throw line in the 2nd half and finished at 44% for the game (11-25). That is one area that really needs to improve. Games against better opponents will be won or lost at the free throw line as was the case against UTEP on Saturday when the Aggies went 11-20 in the first half from the charity stripe.

What we liked: Jonathan Gibson. Jonathan is one of our favorite holdovers from last season. He is a vastly improved player from last season and has clearly improved his shooting. He's quick (we believe one of the quickest players on the team) and as we said yesterday, seems to bring a spark to the team when he's in the game. More Gibson please. Aggie Access. Perhaps one of the best investments we've made. We were able to watch (yes watch) the game last night, even on the less than speedy Internet connection here in Ecuador. Defense. The Aggies played good defense last night. Granted it was against a lesser opponent but it was one of the better defensive performances. When you can hold a team to 15 points in a half, you're doing a good job defensively. The Aggies just need to get that defensive effort the rest of the season and they can get things turned around quickly.

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Welcome to day two of the international version of The Daily Aggie. It's not often that football at NMSU overshadows basketball at this time of year but such is the case this season (and hopefully it does so again next season when we go to a bowl game). Coach Mumme has announced the hiring of Joe Lee Dunn as the Aggies' next defensive coordinator. We don't know a whole lot about Joe Lee Dunn but what we've read we certainly like. The particulars are that he runs a 3-5 defense and that everywhere he's gone the defense has vastly improved.

We'd also like to congratulate Coach Mumme who, pending approval from the Board of Regents, will receive a one-year contract extension through 2010. A quick look down the list of teams that have had patience with their football coach reveals excellent returns. Kansas, Rutgers and Missouri among others have all had patience and stuck with their head football coaches and are now all seeing big dividends. We think such will be the case with Coach Mumme.

Now, tonight the Aggie men's basketball team takes to the court to do battle with Prairie View A&M. Prairie View is 2-5 on the season and lost on Saturday to Air Force 77-53. The Panthers were only down by one at halftime 38-37, but came out and only scored 16 points in the second half. The Panthers have four players averaging double-digits in scoring, three guards and a guard/forward. Normally these types of games are those where the coach works on the depth of his team (i.e. plays a lot of players) but given the situation the Aggies find themselves in (4-7), Coach Menzies may very well use his regular rotation (which we're still trying to decipher as well). Since Prairie View is a guard-oriented team, you may see a lot more of the Cole/Carter/Gibson/Luster rotation. We're hoping that Gibson gets to play a little more in the upcoming games, he always seems to provide a spark to the team whenever he's in there.

Finally, 21 Aggie student-athletes will graduate on Saturday. Congratulations Aggies!

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Welcome to the first international version of The Daily Aggie. Tomorrow night the men's basketball team takes on Prairie View A&M as they try to get over the loss to UTEP on Saturday night. The Aggies currently sit at 4-7 overall (actually 3-7 because their win over LeMoyne-Owen does not count in the eyes of the NCAA tournament selection committee). The Aggies only have four non-conference games remaining, finish out with Prairie View A&M, New Mexico, Louisville and Alcorn State. The Aggies should win easily over Prairie View A&M and Alcorn State but road tests at New Mexico and Louisville could easily result in losses. The Aggies also need road wins. One of the factors that the selection committee looks at is a team's record on the road and at neutral sites. The Aggies are pitching a shutout on the wrong side of the column at this point. A win over New Mexico would help a great deal as well as give the Aggies some confidence back and of course a win over Louisville would inject a great deal of life back into the season and provide a signature win for the team.

The women's basketball team has the week off and will take the court on Sunday afternoon against Wichita State.

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Just a quick reminder for everyone, The Daily Aggie is headed to Ecuador until the 19th so we may or may not be able to update daily.

Well, yesterday was a bad day for the Aggie basketball teams and their fans. Both the women's and the men's teams lost and in similar fashion. Both teams led early (the women's team led nearly the entire first half) but neither team was able to sustain the lead. The women's game.

What we didn't like: LOSING. We hate losing to rivals. Period. Refs. It's hard to win games when it's 8 on 5. The first half of the women's game wasn't too bad but apparently UTEP's check cleared at halftime and the calls were decidedly in favor of UTEP the rest of the game. Free throws. You can't win games if you don't hit free throws. The Aggies were 11-20 in the first half. Everybody but Hatila Passos was missing free throws on a regular basis. The women didn't fare much better when they got to the line, they were 2-7 for the game (1-4 in the first half and 1-3 in the second half). UTEP on the other hand was 13-18 for the game. Stefon Jackson and Randy Culpepper. The duo combined for 55 of UTEP's 79 points. In reality, two people beat the Aggies last night. Culpepper hit 5 of 10 three pointers and Jackson hit pretty much whatever he wanted.

What we liked: The Fans. This was a complete reversal from Tuesday night's game. The Aggie fans came out in full force and despite all the talk about how UTEP's Tony Barbee was buying up tickets and giving them to the students and the Miners fans were going to invade the Pan Am and make it The Haskins Center North, it didn't happen. Yes there were a lot of UTEP fans but probably no more than 1500 scattered throughout the Pan Am. There were definitely not 400 UTEP students on hand. If we had to guess we'd say there were about 150. Hatila Passos. Hatila had a great offensive game scoring 20 points and 11 rebounds, however, Hatila also had zero fouls (not good if you're a post player).

The Aggies have Prairie View A&M on Tuesday night at home to try to regroup before heading to Albuquerque on the 19th to face New Mexico. The ladies are off until next Sunday when they'll take on Wichita State then Lamar two days later before they head to Albuquerque for their rematch with New Mexico on the 21st.

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