[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 12, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1852-S1853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  LOBOS WIN WAC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

  Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to say a

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few words about the University of New Mexico men's basketball team, 
which this week completed one of its best seasons ever by winning the 
Western Athletic Conference Tournament title.
  This has been an excellent year for the Lobo basketball program, 
winning 27 games so far and winning the conference tournament in 
dramatic fashion. The Lobos were able to pull out a triple-overtime win 
over Fresno State in the semi-final, and then were able to come back 
from that emotional game to upset an excellent Utah team for the 
conference tournament championship.
  What makes the victories especially gratifying for New Mexicans is 
the large number of New Mexico high school basketball players that make 
up this team. Being a sparsely populated state, our universities have 
often needed to recruit from throughout the country for athletes. Often 
our schools would field teams, both successful and unsuccessful, that 
included no native New Mexicans. It is a tribute to the quality of New 
Mexico's high school athletic programs that athletes such as Kenny 
Thomas, David Gibson, Royce Olney and Daniel Santiago have played such 
an integral part in this season's achievements.
  I congratulate coach Dave Bliss and his team for making its fourth 
appearance in six years in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and for 
winning the Western Athletic Conference Championship.
  I also congratulate Don Flanangan and the UNM Women's which made it 
to the conference finals.
  I would also like to take this opportunity to recognize the coaching 
efforts of Lou Henson, who has announced his retirement from coaching 
after 21 years at the University of Illinois. Before beginning his fine 
career at Illinois, Henson both played and coached at New Mexico State 
University. He coached the 1970 Aggies to the Final Four and in 1989 
brought the Illini there as well. Henson leaves collage basketball with 
an overall record of 663 wins against 223 losses. He has been a credit 
to the game and to New Mexico.

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