Aggies Among Us: How One Team is Making Las Cruces a Better Place to Live

Over the years our broader community had no reason to find fault in neighbors not knowing the names of more than a couple of Aggie basketball players. Every year, there seems to be at least one standout, and sometimes we even have a “local” player to root for. We all knew Johnny McCants. We knew Albert “Slab” Jones, Randy Brown and, more recently, Pascal Siakam. Names like Billy Keys and William Benjamin, forever associated with their play at NMSU, weren’t commonly known until they stepped off the court and into our broader community as neighbors and friends.

Pascal Siakam driving to the basket over Saint Mary’s Dane Pineau in the First Round of the 2016 National Invitational Tournatment. Siakam scored 19 points for the Aggies in a close 58-56 first-round loss. (Photo: Courtesy NMSU Athletics)

As a self-described basketball town, wins and losses have been tallies reserved for the end-of-the-season grist mill. The success or failure of any year’s team came down to the answers to two questions:

• Did the Aggies win 20?
• Did they make the NCAA Tournament?

Of course, there are members of the 6th Man Club, alumni and boosters who roll knee deep in Aggie lore, but they are the exception. It might even be argued that these die-hard fans are what have stoked the small but intense flame that inspires justification for our broader community to even be considered a basketball town.

Until recently, there was no incentive for athletes to venture outside of the institution. A player’s jersey signaled little more than being on the team, much less a player’s actual identity. After all, it isn’t just any jersey that gets framed and mounted on the wall at the local sports bar, but few can identify whose jersey it was from just the number.

Dormitory life bound by rigorous practice schedules and treks to the cafeteria and gym defined a student athlete’s college experience. Any deviation from this routine carried with it certain risks, mainly institutional in nature.

Before the era of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), student athletes were discouraged from overt or excessive community engagement. The mere appearance of athletes being too cozy with the boosters raised suspicions of pay for play—a big “no-no” for New Mexico State University in the eyes of the NCAA. There could be no hint of impropriety, so our student athletes, basketball players in particular, were segregated from the community at large.

Times have changed.

Welcome to the NIL Era at NMSU…

Much of the controversy surrounding NIL centers on the “professionalization” of college athletics. Inherent in this argument is how bigger schools will be better equipped to “buy” players. The subject was hotly debated in the college curriculum, as at least one Sports Marketing class on the NMSU campus explored this heated issue. In the class, students fell into opposing camps with one side quibbling over the level of “compensation”, the other attempting to match those values with the worth of a university education. As time stands witness to how the financial aspects play out, another rarely mentioned benefit of NIL has emerged. This benefit is universal, creating a positive impact on all parties—the players, the university and the community at large… and it has nothing to do with money—at least not directly.

Promotion of student athletes in the community has turned from discouraged to requisite. There is no longer need to sequester student athletes. They don’t have to wait until graduation before becoming fully engaged members of our broader community, and they don’t need to be hidden away in the athletic dorms on campus. For New Mexico State University, this is a game changer… in a very good way.

At the beginning of the school year, Coach Hooten gathered with the NMSU basketball team at Corbett Center to meet the student body. “Thanks to everyone who rolled through to meet this year’s squad!” (August 20)

In response to NIL, the transfer portal (a story for a different time) and some fairly drastic transitions in the program altogether, NMSU has been challenged by large numbers of student athletes leaving Las Cruces. Only two players returned from last year’s squad, sophomores Jae’Coby Osborne and Gabe Pickens. In a traditional environment, this would have made connecting a team to the community nearly impossible; however, these aren’t traditional times, and this is not some run-of-the-mill team.

Being full-fledged members of the student body means showing up to support fellow athletes, especially in other sports. The Aggies Basketball team was captured supporting the football and soccer programs. For the football game against Tulsa, they even drummed up more community support by hosting a Hoopin’ event during pre-game tailgating.

“Aggies supporting Aggies!” NMSU Basketball players sit among a gathering crowd of fans to watch New Mexico State’s Soccer team take on Sam Houston on September 20. (The match finished tied, 2-2.)

Their willingness to be involved on campus was not limited to athletics. It did not take this Aggies team long to work their way into a campus Army ROTC event, and their military transport vehicle, as well.

“Had a great time supporting NMSU Army ROTC at the Rio Grande Rivalry game ball send-off as [Aggies Football] gets ready to take on Lobos this Saturday in ABQ!” (September 25)

Despite having assembled from points as far as Congo, Nigeria, Poland and Australia, this team fell into campus life as if they had been Aggies their entire lives.

But they have proven to be more than students being good at being students.

And Welcome to Our Broader Community

“Grateful for the opportunity to give back at El Caldito Soup Kitchen today! Thank you for welcoming us and allowing us to serve alongside you in support of our community “(September 13)

Stepping off campus, these Aggies worked the community soup kitchen, helping to feed those struggling with hunger.

Thank you Mesilla Park Elementary for letting us join in on National Walk to School Day alongside the kids! (October 2)

They showed up for the children in our broader community by participating in National Walk to School Day. (What better way to demonstrate their membership in our community than walking among the children on their way to school?) And they did more than walk with the kids, taking time to shoot hoops and hang at the Boys and Girls Club in Roswell and Hobbs. Not only do these Aggies fit in, they are exemplary representatives of what we hope our community can be.

When Thanksgiving season arrived, who do you think was available to help distribute meals to those in need?

“Big thanks to DACC for letting us be part of their Thanksgiving meal delivery and help serve the students and families!” (November 18)

In another place, in another time, it might be acceptable to simply overlook student athletes on campus as being just another Aggie. But this is Las Cruces, today. And these are Aggies like we’ve never seen before.

The NMSU 2025 Men’s Basketball team is comprised of young men who have fallen in with our broader community. They have become more than just the next class of basketball players. They are our neighbors.

So the next time you see a picture in Las Cruces Digest, the next time you happen across a roster, take a good look at the faces and try to remember the names. Chances are, you will see them out and about, doing their best to live among us… working their hardest to represent what it means to be a good Aggie—and a good neighbor.

Oh… and (in case I failed to mention it) these young men can really play basketball.