Steve Alford through the years

Steve Alford, barking instructions during an NCAA tournament loss to Harvard last week, went 155-52 in six seasons at New Mexico.   (George Frey / Associated Press)

Steve Alford guided New Mexico to three NCAA tournament appearances in his six seasons at the university.   (Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)

Steve Alford and New Mexico won the Mountain West Conference regular-season and tournament titles each of the last two seasons. He has a career coaching record of 463-235, a .663 winning percentage.  (Jeff Bottari / Getty Images)

Coach Steve Alford is restrained by referee Hal Lusk and New Mexico guard Kendall Williams after an altercation in the second half of a conference game against Air Force earlier this season.  (Eric Draper / Associated Press)

Steve Alford and Bob Knight greet each other after a game in which Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers rallied to beat Alford’s Iowa Hawkeyes, 74-71, in one of their Big Ten Conference meetings while the two coached against each other. Alford was captain of Indiana’s 1987 team that won the NCAA title under Knight.   (Tom Strattman / Associated Press)

Steve Alford, as coach of Iowa, talks to guard Dean Oliver during a nonconference game against Eastern Illinois. Alford helped Iowa to a 25-9 record in 2006, when they won their second Big Ten Conference tournament championship.   (Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press)

Steve Alford, reacting to a play while coach at Southwest Missouri State, led the Bears to the the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 in 1999 when they finished 22-11.   (John S. Stewart / Associated Press)