New ENMU men's coach keeping busy

Andrew Helton, the new men’s basketball coach at Eastern New Mexico University, has a far-reaching vision of Greyhound Arena filled with fans cheering on a winning ENMU program. In the meantime, Helton will have to bide time a few more months before getting to lead practices or direct strategy during a game.

Stationed in a smaller room while the carpet is replaced in former coach Shawn Scanlan’s old office, Helton seems quite at home doing something he’s done frequently his whole coaching career as an assistant: Conducting business over the phone, namely.

But the nature of the business has changed.

Helton said that tasks like trying to find an assistant coach and finding eight more opponents to fill up next year’s schedule, something not often asked of an assistant, are filling his first days at Eastern.

“There’s not anything I didn’t know about, but there’s a lot of duties coming from a lot of different directions,” Helton said. “You’ve got to balance a lot.”

An assistant for the last 16 years, Helton spent the last two seasons at South Alabama before he was hired by ENMU in late April to turn around a floundering program. The Greyhounds, without a Lone Star Conference South Division win in more than two years, finished the 2008-09 campaign with a 4-23 record after a 6-21 mark the year before.

Part of Helton’s early goals has been to get to know the five or six players who are likely to return to play for Eastern in the fall.

“I’m happy with them. The week I had them, the guys worked hard,” Helton said. “Because of when I got hired, I had a week to do individual instruction — weightlifting, conditioning.”

The period for conducting in-person visits to potential recruits ended on May 19, so Helton had only a limited time in that regard.

Still, he got a quick commitment from well-regarded high school standout Jordan Romero from St. Michael’s in Santa Fe. A guard who can hit outside shots and drive into the lane for buckets, Romero helped St. Mike’s win two Class 3A championships during his five years on the varsity.

“We were very fortunate,” Helton said. “We got a call from Ron Geyer, his high school coach. Ron, who has a connection with the school (with his daughter Heidi, a recent ENMU volleyball player), was a huge help to us.”                                            

Romero’s father, Martin, said his son is happy to be going to ENMU.

“It was the right fit,” said Martin Romero, who is also the head coach for the St. Michael’s girls basketball team. “He wanted to go somewhere he’d have a chance to play right away.

“Everything about coach Helton, when Jordan met him, was very positive. He was the kind of person Jordan wants to play for.”

Three players from Tyler Junior College in Texas also decided to play at Eastern in Helton’s first year as coach. Reggie Nelson, Alan Branch and Tyler Jefferson may be the beginning of a trend, if Helton has it his way.

“Our priority is going to be Texas and New Mexico,” he said. “The majority of our time (recruiting) is going to be in those states.”