Neil McCarthy, the outspoken former New Mexico State basketball coach, left fond memories and valuable lessons behind for one of his players.
McCarthy died Sept. 18 at 81.
"You know, one thing I take from Neil is that if you going to be who you are, you be who you are,” former player William Benjamin, now boys’ basketball coach at Las Cruces High School, told KRQE in Albuquerque. “When you are going to do it your way, you do it your way, you know, regardless of what people say about you. And, you know, I think I use that in my coaching.”
McCarthy, who was known for speaking frankly, coached Benjamin from 1988 to 1992. The two men kept in touch over the years, and the last time they talked, it was about the match-up zone McCarthy use to defeat to many of his opponents. Benjamin has used it as a coach himself.
“I could hear the excitement in his voice when I told him I ran it and we won a state tournament,” Benjamin told the station. “And, vintage Neil, you know, he said you would have won a couple more if you would have ran it more. You know, that’s Neil. You know, that’s Neil and I’m going to miss that cat a lot man.”
As coach of New Mexico State men's hoops from 1985 to 1997, McCarthy racked up a record of 248 wins, the second highest behind Lou Henson at the school, the story said. McCarthy led the team to the Sweet 16 in 1992, a victory that was later voided by the NCAA for academic fraud.