Eastwood High School Gym to Host NMSU Basketball Games
The Eastwood Aggies? Get ready for it. The NMSU men's and women's basketball programs have finally found a home away from Las Cruces. This evening, the school announced that they will play their WAC home games in El Paso at Eastwood High School.
"We found a tremendous location in Eastwood High School," NMSU Director of Athletics said in the official school release. "Our staff who toured their facility were amazed not only by the aesthetics inside the bowl but also the back-of-house infrastructure needed to host NCAA Division I teams.
[Eastwood HS Director of Athletics] Julio Lopez and the entire school laid out the red carpet for us, and Aggie Nation is very appreciative."
The NMSU men's basketball team played their first conference games of the season last weekend and they lost both on the road to Grand Canyon University. Meanwhile, the Aggies women's basketball team split their "home games" with GCU in Phoenix. Although they are able to practice in Las Cruces in their own facilities, the Aggies are still not allowed to play home games at the Pan Am Center. Now, they can make the 45-minute drive and play their WAC home games in the 2,000-seat state-of-the-art gym.
"It's not every day that you get the chance to host Division I, NCAA tournament-caliber programs in your gym," said Julio Lopez, Eastwood High School athletic coordinator. "We are ecstatic at the opportunity to host NMSU's athletic programs in our facility, and we look forward to seeing the Aggies in our gym, making a run at another NCAA tournament."
NMSU athletics officials spent last week in El Paso looking at potential venues for their men's and women's basketball teams to play their home games. Bel Air high school was also in consideration, but ultimately the Troopers won the opportunity to host the Aggies. For Lopez, the move is especially sweet, since he played his college football career at both UTEP and NMSU.
The NMSU men's and women's basketball teams will each play four games at Eastwood this month. The Aggie men will host Cal Baptist this weekend and then Utah Valley on February 19th and 20th. The women will welcome Seattle on February 12th and 13th and then Tarleton State on February 26th and 27th.