Story Courtesy Steve Kirkland, New Mexico Athletics

University of New Mexico head coach Eric Olen announced three members of his coaching staff. Tom Tankelewicz, Sam Stapleton and Mikey Howell will all join the Lobo coaching staff as assistant coaches, having all served on Olen’s staff at UC San Diego.

“I’m thrilled to add Tom, Sam and Mikey to our Lobo Family,” said Olen. “They’re talented coaches who have been a huge part of our past success. All three prioritize players and understand how we operate and who we want to recruit.”

Tankelewicz spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at UC San Diego, helping lead a Triton offense in 2024-25 that led the Big West and ranked in the top 30 nationally in assist/turnover ratio (4th, 1.80) and effective field goal percentage (29th, .555). Last season, he coached Big West Player of the Year Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones to a Division I school-record 670 points and Tyler McGhie to a school-record 117 three-pointers.

Prior to coming to UCSD, Tankelewicz spent the 2021-22 season at Presbyterian, helping lead the Blue Hose to the best non-conference record in school history. He spent five seasons on the staff at UNC Greensboro from 2017-21, as the Spartans had five consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program history. UNCG won two SoCon regular season titles, two SoCon Tournament titles, made two NCAA Tournament appearances and two NIT appearances during his time on Wes Miller’s staff.

Tankelewicz played collegiately at Western Carolina, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 2014. He made 179 3-pointers during his career, including leading the SoCon with 80 3-pointers in 2012-13. Following graduation, he played professionally for one season in Kosovo. Tankelewicz earned his master’s degree in 2018 from UNCG.

“Tom will coordinate our offense and is a rising star in the business,” said Olen. “He has a creative mind and an elite work ethic to go along with being a great teacher. His commitment to his craft is something our players will be able to learn from and his selflessness is contagious. We are very lucky to bring Tom to Albuquerque.”

Stapleton spent the past four years at UC San Diego, serving as an assistant coach for two years after serving as the program’s director of recruiting and director of operations. In each of his two seasons as an assistant coach with the Tritons, UCSD reach the postseason, with a CBI appearance in 2024 and the school’s first March Madness berth this past season.

Prior to coming to UCSD, Stapleton was an assistant coach for four seasons at Cal State Dominguez Hills, helping the Toros to four consecutive conference tournament appearances and coaching six all-conference honorees. From 2015-17, he was graduate assistant/video coordinator at Pepperdine, helping the Waves reach the 2016 CBI. Stapleton also has coaching experience at West LA Community College and the LA Rockfish AAU program.

Stapleton played collegiately at Occidental College, where he graduated in 2013. As starting point guard for the Tigers, he finished his senior season ranking third in the conference in assists and fifth in steals. Stapleton earned his graduate degree from Pepperdine in 2017.

“Sam is going to oversee recruiting and roster building,” said Olen. “He is a terrific evaluator and a tireless worker. His ability to identify undervalued prospects and project them into different roles within our structure will help us put together teams that have complementary skillsets. In addition to roster construction, Sam will support the defensive side of the ball where his energy and attention to detail are high level. Lobo fans will love his passion and commitment.”

Howell, who starred at point guard for Olen at UC San Diego, spent the past three seasons on the staff of his alma mater. He was an assistant coach for each of the past two seasons as the Tritons made their first two Division I postseason appearances. Howell joined the staff in 2022-23 as the director of basketball operations.

As a player at UCSD, Howell is the school’s all-time leader in assists with 502 over his career. As a senior in 2020-21, the Tritons’ first season in Division I, he led the Big West and ranked 12th nationally by averaging 6.0 assists per game. In 2019-20, UCSD’s final season in Division II, he earned second-team all-conference honors as he set the school’s single season assist record with 215. He helped the Tritons to a 30-1 record as he was sixth in the nation in assists at 6.9 per game.

“No one has spent more time in our system than Mikey,” said Olen. “He’s been both a player who thrived in our environment and also a coach who helped players do the same thing. He connects with players and relates to their experiences, having recently been in their shoes. Mikey has always had a feel for the game well beyond his years of experience. He supports the offensive side of the ball and excels in guard development. Lobo Nation is going to be excited about what Mikey brings to our team.”