UNM Student Prepares for Officer Candidate School

UNM Fans Get Ready for Lobo Basketball Season

Photo by William Aranda 

            With basketball season just around the corner, fans throughout the Albuquerque community, along with University of New Mexico students, wanted to come out to Lobo Howl to support both the women’s and men’s basketball teams. Lobo Howl is an event held at The Pit every year before basketball season and is somewhat of a pep rally for the community. The Pit is packed with fans of all ages buying merchandise, taking pictures, and getting ready to watch both teams scrimmage. The night got started with the men’s team signing autographs in the lobby while the women’s team got ready to play. In the meantime, the student section was filled with excitement and Lobo spirit as they waited to see the 2012-2013 season teams take the court.

            “I’m more than excited for basketball season. My favorite part is definitely getting to The Pit early and waiting in line to get in for a game. It’s a lot of fun,” said UNM sophomore Kyle Spielbusch.

            “Coming in and the atmosphere, being around all the fans, and the energy this arena has is contagious and I absolutely love it,” said Brian Fennema, a recent UNM graduate, when asked about his favorite thing about Lobo Basketball season at The Pit.

            “I’m a Lobo and I love the energy you get being at the Pit. You don’t even have to know much about basketball, it’s that everyone loves it so much, you just feel it,” said junior Michaela Laverty.

            Lobo fans have always taken pride in their spirit at various athletic events.

Photo by William Aranda 

            “I’m in my fourth year and we’ve been through a lot and it’s been awesome to see all of the Lobos, win or lose, how each year we’ve still kept that Lobo pride, Lobo nation. This year, it’s finally going in the greatest way but it doesn’t make a difference, we love them just the same either way,” said senior Kylie Jacobsen about why she loves being a Lobo.

Students weren’t the only ones excited about the upcoming season. There were season ticket holders and families at The Pit that have been coming to Lobo basketball games for years.

            “We’ve been coming to Lobo games at the Pit for about ten years now,” said Shannon Guitierrez, who went to Lobo Howl with her husband and son. “They’ve done so good and they get better and better every year. All of our kids are big Lobo fans!”

            Shortly after the night got started, the women’s team took to the court to play a scrimmage game. They even surprised everyone with a choreographed dance routine that included “Thriller”.  The players then went to the lobby to sign autographs for fans.

Some of the players transferred from other schools to play for the Lobos and they are very excited about this season.

 Photo by William Aranda 

            “It’s a new season, a new school, everybody’s pumped, as you can when we were out there…” said Ebony Walker, a junior post for the Lobo women’s basketball team.

            “Coming in from Texas Tech, being a Lobo means everything to me, being back in my hometown. We had a good crowd today and great fans, I love it,” added Walker, who is originally from Albuquerque.
            At around 8:00 p.m., the men’s basketball team, a community favorite, came out onto the court to play a scrimmage game. Shortly after that, they entertained the fans with their annual dunk contest, where the players jump over their teammates and try to get a slam-dunk.

            After the men had an exciting dunk contest, fans were rushing down to the court trying to get a picture with a player before they went back to the locker room.

            Lobo Howl is definitely a favorite event for fans throughout the community, as well as the UNM community. It brings everyone together and gets them excited to come out and support the Lobos at every game.

            The next scheduled women’s basketball game is on November 15 against Texas Tech University at 7 p.m. at The Pit. The next scheduled men’s basketball game is on November 12 against Davidson with an 11:59 p.m. tipoff at The Pit. This game is a part of ESPN’s Midnight Madness and will be televised.  

UNM Lobo Howl 2012 Highlights 

Photography by William Aranda

Video by Marcus Jaramillo

Broadcast script by Jamilla Wilcox 

Article by Veronica Deeds