Steve Alford

Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a two-time consensus first-team All-American playing in college for the Indiana Hoosiers. He led them to a national championship in 1987. After playing professionally for four years in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he has been a college head coach for almost 30 years. Alford was named Indiana Mr. Basketball in high school before playing at Indiana University Bloomington under coach Bobby Knight. He helped the Hoosiers claim their fifth national championship, and finished his career as Indiana's all-time leading scorer. Alford was selected in the second round of the 1987 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks, and played four years in the league with Dallas and the Golden State Warriors. Alford then became a college head coach. He has coached at Manchester University, Southwest Missouri State University, the University of Iowa and the University of New Mexico. He spent seasons with the UCLA Bruins before being fired midseason in 2018–19. By leading Nevada to the NCAA Tournament in 2023, he became the fourth head coach to lead five teams to the NCAA Division I Tournament. Early life Alford was born in Franklin, Indiana and grew up in New Castle. He learned to count as a three-year-old by watching the numbers tick off the scoreboard in Monroe City, where his father, Sam Alford, coached the high school team. Sam often moved for various coaching jobs. Steve missed only two of his father's games, once when he had chicken pox and once when he made the regionals of the Elks Club free-throw shooting contest. When Alford was nine years old, he attended a basketball camp put on by Coach Bob Knight. Eventually the Alfords settled in New Castle, Indiana, where Steve played on the New Castle Chrysler High School basketball team with his dad as coach. Alford was known to practice shooting so much that he would wear out six or seven nets a summer and frequently forgo social activities. As a high school freshman Alford barely averaged a point a game, but then averaged 18.7 the next season. By his senior year in 1983, before the three-point line was even implemented, Alford averaged 37.2 points per game and earned the Indiana "Mr. Basketball" award.