This Little Man Is Thinking Big : Basketball: New Mexico point guard Greg Brown, at 5-7, wants a shot at the NBA.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —  When New Mexico point guard Greg Brown heard he had won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, friends and relatives were thrilled. Now he’s waiting to see what pro coaches and scouts think.

Lobos coach Dave Bliss said capturing the Naismith, which honors the outstanding men’s college basketball senior under 6-feet and women’s player under 5-foot-6, strengthens Brown’s hopes for a pro basketball career.

When a reporter asked Brown, who also was named Western Athletic Conference player of the year, what the latest honor might do for his potential pro career, Bliss interrupted.

“Questions like that you answer ‘it can’t hurt,”’ Bliss said. “I’m not sure you ever know an answer to something like that. The thing that will be possible for Greg is that he’s going to get a tryout. That’ll be fun. But if he does nothing else in basketball, he’s had a phenomenal career.”

The 5-foot-7 guard averaged 19.3 points a game in leading the Lobos to their first regular-season WAC title in 16 years.

Brown said he celebrated the award in his typical, low-key fashion.

“I called some friends, called my mom and dad and went to class,” he said. “I was excited to tell them because I knew they would probably get more emotional than I was.”

The award comes five weeks after the close of a season in which Brown scored at least 25 points seven times and become only the sixth Lobo to score 40 or more in a game -- he scored 42 against Texas-El Paso on Feb. 5. The Lobos went 23-8, losing 57-54 to Virginia in the NCAA West Region’s first round.

Brown’s closest competitor for the award was Doremus Bennerman of Siena, who averaged 26 points a game -- but did it playing in the smaller Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Bliss said Air Force coach Reggie Minton, who is on the award selection committee, told him about two weeks ago that the honor was Brown’s.

“He said it was a slam dunk,” Bliss said. “I know Bennerman had a fine year, but I think the people on the committee, which included people (coaches) who had played against Greg, felt strongly that Greg had done it at a major college level in a major conference.”

Brown had a sterling high school career at Albuquerque High, leading the Bulldogs to the 1990 state championship with a 30-point effort against Albuquerque La Cueva.

But he went unnoticed by Division I recruiters and attended New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs for two seasons. There, he caught Bliss’ eye by averaging 18.5 points and almost nine assists per game.

Brown moved into the Lobos’ starting lineup early in the 1992-93 season and averaged 30-plus minutes throughout the rest of his career.

“As a coach, I have never compromised more of my offensive principles than while coaching Greg Brown,” Bliss said. “Because his best play is to dribble down the court and shoot it. Everybody knows that’s not a great basketball play, but for us it was terrific.”

Brown will receive the award May 7 as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame’s enshrinement weekend in Springfield, Mass.

Brown is the second New Mexico native to win a Naismith award. Clovis High School graduate Bubba Jennings won the award in 1985 while with Texas Tech.

While Brown is the first Lobo to win the award, New Mexico universities have now won back-to-back Naismiths. Last year, 5-foot-8 guard Sam Crawford won it with New Mexico State.

In the recently completed Continental Basketball Association season, Crawford averaged 11.4 points and 8.1 assists with two teams.

Frances Pomeroy Naismith was the daughter-in-law of basketball creator James Naismith. Her family put up the money to sponsor the award, which goes to players who also demonstrate leadership, character and loyalty off court.

The first man to win the award was Purdue’s William Keller in 1969. Some other notable winners have been Tyrone Bogues of Wake Forest and Tim Hardaway of Texas-El Paso.