Norm Ellenberger, Former New Mexico Head Coach, Dies at 83

Norm Ellenberger, who coached the New Mexico men's basketball team from 1972 to 1979, died Saturday night, per Mark Smith of the Albuquerque Journal. He was 83.

According to Smith, Ellenberger died in his sleep at his cabin in Watersmeet, Michigan, "after a series of heart ailments."

He posted a record of 134-62 in his seven seasons on the Lobos' sidelines, leading the school to the NCAA tournament on two occasions after winning the Western Athletic Conference title. New Mexico lost in the regional semifinal in 1974 and fell in the first round in 1978.

Ellenberger's tenure ended following the "Lobogate" scandal, which included forging players' grades in order to keep them eligible. The Lobos were crippled in the aftermath, failing to put together a winning season until 1983-84 and missing out on the NCAA tournament until 1990-91.

For his role, Ellenberger was convicted on 21 counts of fraud and making false public vouchers. The charges were ultimately dropped after he served a one-year deferred sentence.

"He got beat up so much," said Bob Briggs, a friend of Ellenberger's, in a 2013 article by Smith for the Albuquerque Journal. "Those of us who really know him were behind him. He got a raw deal. I don't want to name names, but those problems went up a lot higher than Norm."

Ellenberger never received a head coaching job following his firing from New Mexico. His career continued, however, as he served as an assistant at UTEP and Indiana before joining the Chicago Bulls for three seasons.

"Guys like Bobby Knight, Gene Keady, even Don Haskins in his own way," said UTEP head coach Tim Floyd, who was one of Ellenberger's assistants, per Smith. "Norm was the most flamboyant of them all. It was truly the golden age of college basketball. What he did for that city and that program was amazing."

ESPN's Fran Fraschilla also reminisced about Ellenberger's unique style:

Although he didn't find consistent success in the Big Dance, Ellenberger helped build the New Mexico program into one that would regularly compete for conference titles and advance to the tourney under Dave Bliss and then later Steve Alford.