# 2009–10 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team

The 2009–10 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represented New Mexico State University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was Marvin Menzies 3rd season as head coach. The Aggies played their home games at Pan American Center and competed in the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 22–12, 11–5 in WAC play. They won the 2010 WAC men's basketball tournament to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They earned a 12 seed in the Midwest Region where they were defeated by 5 seed and AP #13 Michigan State in the first round.

## Pre-season

In the WAC preseason polls, released October 20 via media teleconference New Mexico State was selected to finish 3rd in the coaches and media poll. Jr. Jahmar Young was selected to the coaches and media All-WAC first team.

## 2009–10 Team
### Roster

Source
| # | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Position | Class | Hometown | Previous Team(s) |
| 0 | Tray Britt | 6'3" | 200 | G | Sr. | Richmond, California | Hogan HS |
| 1 | Jahmar Young | 6'5" | 180 | G | Jr. | Baltimore, Maryland | Laurinburg Prep |
| 3 | Da'Shawn Gomez | 6'1" | 180 | G | Fr. | Inglewood, California | Inglewood HS |
| 5 | Lamine Diame | 6'6" | 200 | F | Fr. | Saint-Louis, Senegal | De La Fosse |
| 10 | Bandja Sy | 6'8" | 210 | F | Fr. | Cergy, France | Stoneridge Prep |
| 11 | Justin Standley | 6'3" | 190 | G | Fr. | Oakland, California | McClymonds HS |
| 13 | Hernst Laroche | 6'1" | 165 | G | So. | Montreal, Quebec | Page-Concordia Vanier |
| 15 | Kelly Merker | 6'4" | 205 | F | Sr. | Santa Fe, New Mexico | Monte del Sol HS |
| 21 | Makhtar Diop | 6'6" | 185 | G | So. | Dakar, Senegal | St. Jeanne d'Arc Institute |
| 22 | Jonathan Gibson | 6'1" | 180 | G | Sr. | West Covina, California | Calvary Christian Prep |
| 24 | Robert Lumpkins | 6'7" | 210 | F | Jr. | Washington, D.C. | Kilgore College |
| 31 | Wendell McKines | 6'6" | 225 | F | Jr. | Oakland, California | Richmond HS |
| 32 | Hamidu Rahman | 6'11" | 255 | C | So. | Somerset, New Jersey | American Christian HS |
| 33 | Troy Gillenwater | 6'8" | 230 | F | So. | Boston, Massachusetts | Stoneridge Prep |
| 34 | Aaron Gordo Castillo | 6'5" | 180 | G | Jr. | Las Cruces, New Mexico | Las Cruces HS |
| 35 | B. J. West | 6'11" | 220 | F | Fr. | Cheneyville, Louisiana | Rapides HS |
| 45 | Tyrone Watson | 6'5" | 225 | F | Fr. | Hamilton, Ontario | Cathedral HS |
| 55 | Abdoulaye N'doye | 7'0" | 215 | C | Fr. | Dakar, Senegal | ISM |

### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Year at NMSU | Alma Mater (Year) |
| Marvin Menzies | Head coach | 3rd | UCLA (1987) |
| Mick Durham | Assistant coach | 2nd | Montana State (1979) |
| Chris Pompey | Assistant coach | 4th | Pittsburgh (1984) |
| Paul Weir | Assistant coach | 3rd | York (2004) |

## 2009–10 schedule and results

Source
* All times are Mountain
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Mon, Nov 2 7:00pm | | Western New Mexico | W 111–83 | – | Pan American Center (4,738) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Fri, Nov 13* 9:30pm | | at Saint Mary's | L 68–100 | 0–1 | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, California |
| Tue, Nov 17* 7:00pm | | New Mexico Rio Grande Rivalry | L 87–97 | 0–2 | Pan American Center (8,469) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Sat, Nov 21* 2:00pm | | Oklahoma Panhandle State | W 83–73 | 1–2 | Pan American Center (4,738) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Tue, Nov 24* 8:00pm | | at Cal State Fullerton | L 73–84 | 1–3 | Titan Gym (1,001) Fullerton, California |
| Thu, Nov 26* 7:00pm | | North Carolina A&T | W 84–68 | 2–3 | Pan American Center (4,462) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Tue, Dec 1* 7:00pm | | UTEP Battle of I-10 | W 79–58 | 2–4 | Pan American Center (7,195) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Sat, Dec 5* 7:00pm, The Mtn. | | at New Mexico Rio Grande Rivalry | L 58–75 | 2–5 | The Pit (14,586) Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Sun, Dec 13* 7:00pm | | at UTEP Battle of I-10 | W 87–80 | 3–5 | Don Haskins Center (10,459) El Paso, Texas |
| Tue, Dec 15* 8:30pm | | at UCLA | L 68–100 | 3–6 | Pauley Pavilion (5,933) Los Angeles, California |
| Fri, Dec 18* 8:30pm | | at Pepperdine | W 78–72 | 4–6 | Firestone Fieldhouse (471) Malibu, California |
| Mon, Dec 21* 7:00pm | | Alcorn State | W 97–72 | 5–6 | Pan American Center (4,730) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Wed, Dec 23* 7:00pm | | Texas Southern Lou Henson Classic | W 79–75 | 6–6 | Pan American Center (4,781) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Mon, Dec 28* 7:00pm | | Prairie View A&M | W 95–76 | 7–6 | Pan American Center (4,649) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Sat, Jan 2 9:00pm, ESPNU | | Utah State | W 55–52 | 8–6 (1–0) | Pan American Center (5,070) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Mon, Jan 4 9:00pm, ESPNU | | Nevada | L 67–77 | 8–7 (1–1) | Pan American Center (4,788) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Sat, Jan 9 7:00pm | | at Boise State | W 88–85 | 9–7 (2–1) | Taco Bell Arena (3,896) Boise, Idaho |
| Mon, Jan 11 8:00pm | | at Idaho | W 75–72 | 10–7 (3–1) | Cowan Spectrum (1,296) Moscow, Idaho |
| Sat, Jan 16 7:00pm | | Fresno State | W 86–77 | 11–7 (4–1) | Pan American Center (6,106) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Thu, Jan 21 10:00pm | | at Hawai'i | W 71–69 | 12–7 (5–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,288) Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Sat, Jan 23 8:30pm | | at San Jose State | L 84–93 | 12–8 (5–2) | The Event Center (2,285) San Jose, California |
| Sat, Jan 30 7:00pm | | at Louisiana Tech | W 91–77 | 13–8 (6–2) | Thomas Assembly Center (5,028) Ruston, Louisiana |
| Sat, Feb 6 7:00pm | | San Jose State | W 94–82 | 14–8 (7–2) | Pan American Center (6,255) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Mon, Feb 8 7:00pm, ESPN+ | | Louisiana Tech | W 70–68 | 15–8 (8–2) | Pan American Center (5,549) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Thu, Feb 11 8:00pm | | at Fresno State | L 64–83 | 15–9 (8–3) | Save Mart Center (7,889) Fresno, California |
| Mon, Feb 15 7:00pm | | Hawai'i | W 88–64 | 16–9 (9–3) | Pan American Center (5,561) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Sat, Feb 20* 8:00pm, ESPNU | | at Pacific ESPN BracketBusters | W 84–78 | 17–9 | Alex G. Spanos Center (4,014) Stockton, California |
| Wed, Feb 24 9:00pm, ESPN2 | | Idaho | W 74–57 | 18–9 (10–3) | Pan American Center (5,834) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Sat, Feb 27 7:00pm | | Boise State | W 95–92 | 19–9 (11–3) | Pan American Center (6,691) Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Thu, Mar 4 8:00pm | | at Nevada | L 92–100 | 19–10 (11–4) | Lawlor Events Center (5,878) Reno, Nevada |
| Sat, Mar 6 7:00pm | | at Utah State | L 63–81 | 19–11 (11–5) | Smith Spectrum (10,270) Logan, Utah |
| 2010 WAC men's basketball tournament ||||||
| Thu, Mar 11 9:30pm | (3) | vs. (6) San Jose State Quarterfinals | W 90–69 | 20–11 | Lawlor Events Center (NA) Reno, Nevada |
| Fri, Mar 12 8:00pm, ESPN2 | (3) | at (2) Nevada Semifinals | W 80–79 | 21–11 | Lawlor Events Center (5,897) Reno, Nevada |
| Sat, Mar 13 7:00pm, ESPN2 | (3) | vs. (1) Utah State Championship Game | W 69–63 | 22–11 | Lawlor Events Center (2,748) Reno, Nevada |
| 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament ||||||
| Fri, Mar 19* 5:20pm, CBS | (12 MW) | vs. (5 MW) No. 13 Michigan State First round | L 67–70 | 22–12 | Spokane Arena (10,861) Spokane, Washington |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Season highlights

On December 14, Jr. Jahmar Young was named the WAC player of the week for the fifth week of the season with weekly averages of 24.0 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 3.0 AST, and 47.0 FG%.
On February 1, So. Hamidu Rahman was named the WAC player of the week for the twelfth week of the season with weekly averages of 22.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 66.7 FG%.
On February 8, Jr. Jahmar Young was named the WAC player of the week for the thirteenth week of the season with weekly averages of 25.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 5.0 AST, and 61.5 FG%.