|

Steve Alford retirement will end remarkable 36-year career

Dustin Judge
Steve Alford retirement: Alford coaching New Mexico at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego in 2008

Nevada men’s basketball coach Steve Alford will retire after the 2026-27 season, the university announced Sept. 24, closing a 36-year head coaching career that has produced 724 wins across six programs. The Steve Alford retirement news means the Wolf Pack’s coming season will be his last on the sideline in Reno, according to CBS Sports.

Alford took over at Nevada in 2019 and has led the Wolf Pack to NCAA Tournament berths in 2023 and 2024, plus an NIT trip last season. Nevada won 24 games in 2025-26, his second-best win total in Reno, per CBS Sports. Announcing the Steve Alford retirement before the season gives the program a full year to plan for its next coach.

Steve Alford retirement caps a decorated coaching career

Alford’s 724 victories rank 10th among active Division I coaches, CBS Sports reported. He and St. John’s coach Rick Pitino are the only coaches to take six different programs to the NCAA Tournament.

His head coaching career started at Manchester College in Indiana, which he guided to the Division III national championship game in 1995. He then spent four seasons at Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State, and took the Bears to the Sweet 16 in his final season there.

Alford coached Iowa from 1999 to 2007, winning two Big Ten tournament titles and making three NCAA Tournament appearances. At New Mexico from 2007 to 2013, he won four Mountain West regular-season titles and reached the NCAA Tournament three times, advancing past the first round twice.

His up-and-down run at UCLA from 2013 to 2019 included four NCAA Tournament trips and three Sweet 16 appearances, in 2014, 2015 and 2017, according to Field Level Media.

His path to coaching began at Indiana

Before coaching, Alford was a two-time consensus All-American at Indiana under Bob Knight. He was Indiana’s Mr. Basketball in 1983, a three-time first-team All-Big Ten pick and the 1987 Big Ten MVP.

Alford helped the Hoosiers win the 1987 national championship and left Indiana as its all-time leading scorer with 2,438 points. He entered the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997, was named to Indiana’s All-Century Team in 2001 and joined the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

In 1984, he won Olympic gold in Los Angeles with Knight’s U.S. men’s team, the last American team of amateurs to win the gold medal. The Dallas Mavericks drafted him 26th overall in 1987, and he played four NBA seasons with Dallas and Golden State.

Steve Alford retirement statement: Finishing strong

“After 36 years, I feel like this is the right time to step away from the bench,” Alford said in a statement. “Tanya and I have loved our time in Reno, and have embraced this amazing community and built lifelong friendships. I want to thank the University of Nevada for the opportunity to lead this program, and I am looking forward to finishing this season the right way, with a team I believe in.”

Nevada athletic director Stephanie Rempe praised Alford’s tenure in the school’s Steve Alford retirement release. “Steve Alford has been an important part of Nevada Athletics and Wolf Pack Basketball for nearly a decade, leading the program with consistency, integrity, and a deep commitment to developing outstanding young men,” Rempe said. “Throughout his tenure, he helped Nevada remain one of the Mountain West Conference’s most competitive programs while navigating a period of significant change in college athletics.”

For more on the sport, visit our men’s college basketball coverage.

Reporting from CBS Sports, ESPN and Field Level Media contributed to this story.

Dustin Judge is the Founder and CEO of Total Apex Media, bringing more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience to the company's growing network of digital publications. He specializes in sports, sports betting, fantasy sports, and digital publishing, with a focus on producing accurate, timely, and engaging content for readers. Dustin oversees editorial strategy, content development, and publishing operations across Total Apex Media while remaining actively involved in sports, betting, and fantasy sports coverage.