Eric Olen

Eric Olen (born October 15, 1980) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head men's basketball coach at the University of New Mexico. He was previously the head coach at UC San Diego from 2013 to 2025.

Playing career Olen grew up in Mobile, Alabama and prepped at McGill–Toolen Catholic High School. Olen went on to play collegiately at Spring Hill College, where he was part of three straight NAIA national tournament appearances for the Badgers, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2000.

Coaching career

Olen joined his former college coach Bill Carr as an assistant at UC San Diego in 2004, and stayed in the role until 2013 before being promoted to head coach after then head coach Chris Carlson left for an administrative role with the West Coast Conference. Olen has since led the Tritons to three CCAA regular season titles and four consecutive conference tournament titles in addition to four NCAA Division II tournament appearances.

New Mexico

In March 2025, Olen was named the head coach of the University of New Mexico men's basketball program, succeeding Richard Pitino after Pitino departed for Xavier.

In his first season with the Lobos, Olen led New Mexico to a 26–11 overall record and a semifinal appearance in the NIT, marking the second most successful season by a first-year head coach in program history. Behind an up-tempo offensive system and key contributors including Jake Hall, the Lobos averaged over 81 points per game and posted a 17–3 home record at The Pit. Following the successful season, Olen agreed to a five-year contract extension with New Mexico in May 2026.

Head coaching record

Due to the 2020–21 season being the first year of transitioning to DI, games in the Big West did not count towards the Tritons' standings and conference record.