Michael Cooper, Lou Henson among those with New Mexico ties up for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

Dec. 24—Coooooooooop!

Or maybe your preference is a little more along the lines of Loooooouuuuuuu!

Be it Lobo love or Aggie pride, this year's class of eligible candidates for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has some New Mexico ties hoops junkies in the Land of Enchantment are sure to remember.

The Hall this past week releases a list of 144 people and 8 teams listed as eligible candidates up for induction as part of the Class of 2024 — a list that includes both men and women and comprises former players, coaches, referees, executives and other "contributors" to the game of basketball at all levels.

The entire class will be unveiled during the Final Four in Phoenix on April 6 with an enshrinement ceremony at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Aug. 17.

Those eligible candidate with New Mexico ties include:

MICHAEL COOPER, UNM LOBOS: The former UNM great rose to greater national prominence after his days in the Cherry and Silver in Albuquerque when playing a huge role on the Showtime Lakers NBA championship teams of the 1980s.

While at UNM, Cooper played two seasons, averaging 15.6 points per game, 3.8 assists and shot 50.0% from the field.

After his playing days, Cooper has had many stops, including as a head coach of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, Atlanta Dream, the now defunct Albuquerque Thunderbirds, the USC Trojans women's basketball team and others.

LOU HENSON, COACH, NMSU AGGIES: His name adorns not one, but two Division I basketball courts — one at New Mexico State University and one at the University of Illinois. He led both programs to the Final Four and, as NMSU English professor, author and former Henson assistant Rus Bradburd recently posted on social media, Henson has more career victories than 20 coaches already in the Naismith HOF.

Henson, who also coached at Las Cruces High School and at Hardin Simmons, has a career record of 779-422 and was inducted into the the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

REGGIE THEUS, COACH, NMSU AGGIES: The former UNLV Runnin' Rebel turned NBA star and star of the Saturday morning hit Hang Time also coached the New Mexico State Aggies for two seasons (2005-06 and 2006-07).

Hired off the staff of Rick Pitino at Louisville, Theus led the Aggies to the 2007 NCAA Tournament, where a Kevin Durant-led Texas Longhorns team beat NMSU and, ultimately, ended his brief but flashy stint in Las Cruces. He was hired next by New Mexico's Maloof brothers, then owners of the Sacramento Kings, to coach in the NBA. He coached the Kings for two seasons, replacing the fired Eric Musselman as head coach for the 2007-08 season.

Theus has since coached at Cal State Northridge and is currently head coach and athletic director at Bethune-Cookman.

JOHN WILLIAMSON, NMSU AGGIE: Williamson scored 1,168 points in just two seasons (27.2 points per game) for the Aggies in 1971-72 and 1972-73.

He left school early to play professionally, where he went on to team up in both the ABA and NBA with New York Nets teammates such as Julius Erving, Nate "Tiny" Archibald, UNM Lobo legend Mel Daniels, Bernard King and others. He was a starter alongside Erving as a rookie and was named to the ABA's 1974 Alll-Rookie first team.

In 33 games with the then-New Jersey Nets in the 1977-78 season, he averaged a career-best 29.5 points per game. The following year, he set what was then a record for an NBA Playoffs debut by scoring 38 points.

His No. 23 jersey was retired in 1990 by the Nets organization, now in Brooklyn.

BOBBY DIBLER, REFEREE: Dibler was a well-known figure in the Pit and around the region for decades as one of the most respected (maybe not by the most fanatic of Lobo faithful) college basketball referees. He retired June 30 as the head of the Western Basketball Officiating Consortium, the group that oversees officiating for the Mountain West Conference and five other Division I conferences.

Dibler, who lives in El Paso and has a home in New Mexico, often visited the Pit over the past decade as a regular stop in his role evaluating game officials.

OTHER CONNECTIONS: Dozens of other Hall of Fame candidates this year have had brief encounters with New Mexico through the years, from Harlem Globetrotters great Curly Neal, who played/performed countless times around the state, to legendary Levelland (Texas) High School girls basketball coach Dean Weese, who crossed paths with several New Mexico high school teams in a 42-year coaching career that included a mind-boggling 1,207 career victories, and many more.

Former NBA player and UCLA great Henry Bibby is a candidate and also happens to be the grandfather of Lobos senior point guard Jaelen House.

Bibby, like Cooper, once was head coach of the WNBA's LA Sparks and was a longtime NBA assistant. He won an NBA title with the New York Knicks in 1973 and coached the USC Trojans from 1995 to 2004.

At UCLA he was a three-time NCAA Champion (1970-72) and a first-team All-American (1972).

Former coach Jack Hartman, a college football and basketball player at Oklahoma State, won a National Junior College championship coaching Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College to a 32-0 season in 1962, led Southern Illinois to an NIT championship in 1967, then coached Kansas State from 1970 to 1986, being named the NABC Coach of the Year in 1981.

In retirement, Hartman lived part time in Oklahoma and at his home in Santa Fe, where he died in 1998.