Bonjour! Lenghty French guard joins UNM MBB roster
New UNM Men’s basketball commit Timéo Pons drives to the basket for Nanterre 92’s U21 team in a game against Moncao in France last season. Photo courtesy of Timéo Pons’ Instagram page.
Bonjour Monsieur Pons, bienvenue à The Pit.
UNM men’s basketball added more length to its backcourt with the commitment of Timéo Pons, a 6-foot-7 guard from Nanterre, France.
Pons will turn 19 in July.
He played for the French basketball club Nanterre 92 over the last three seasons, seeing the most action with the club’s U21 team.
In 28 games last season for Nanterre’s U21 team, Pons averaged 14.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. He shot just under 30% from three-point range on a high volume of attempts. Pons attempted 177 shots from behind the arc on the year, averaging six per game.
Check out Pons’ 19-point and nine-rebound performance in Nanterre’s 88-62 win over Gravelines on March 19, 2025.
At his length, Pons shows he can handle the ball, finish at the rim and stretch the floor as a threat from deep.
Pons was also efficient in this game. He was 3-of-3 from inside the arc, didn’t miss from the free throw line and went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Pons is the 14th commit to UNM head men’s basketball coach Eric Olen.
He joins a roster that lacks significant Division 1 experience and depth at the post position.
Olen and his coaching staff have stuck to their guns in building a roster with lots of versatile wings that fall in the 6’4 to 6’9 range. The vision is that multiple players on the floor can guard multiple positions and play an aggressive defensive style that pressures the ball and generates turnovers.
While this team certainly has the length on the wing to be disruptive on defense, they appear to be thin in traditional post size.
After J.T. Rock and Tomislav Buljan, who else will defend the post and rebound against big Mountain West teams if one or both get in foul trouble?
Pons is in good company, coming from Nanterre 92. NBA star Victor Wembanyama also played his first professional basketball games for Nanterre 92’s U21 team. Photo courtesy of Nanterre 92
Yes, Antonio Chol is listed at 6-foot-9, but he is also listed as a guard and forward and he may be asked to carry a heavy load on the offensive end. Milos Vicentic and Luke Haupt both stand at 6-foot-7 and will also have to chip in with rebounding and post-defense when needed.
Olen’s defensive schemes last year at UCSD were a mix of full-court press, man-to-man and a tricky matchup zone.
UCSD was second in the nation in turnover rate, forcing opponents into nearly 16 turnovers per game. What they lacked in size and rebounding, they made up for in forcing turnovers and speeding teams up with multiple defensive coverages
“At UC San Diego, that team specifically was good in switching and in some of the zones. We were very interchangeable,” Olen told The Albuquerque Journal’s Geoff Grammer on the “Talking Grammer Podcast” back in March. “I think that’s something we do well. Being able to switch, kind of mix defenses.”
Olen’s Lobos in 2025-26 will likely play with a similar style given the lack of depth at the post position, but a plethora of interchangeable long wings.
House Settlement
The landmark class-action lawsuit involving the NCAA and current and former collegiate athletes received final settlement approval from federal District Court Judge Claudia Wilken.
Judge Wilken issued a 76-page Opinion and also a separate Order Granting Final Settlement Approval to the Modified Settlement Agreement.
Approval of the House Settlement brings several big changes to college athletics. The primary concerns are revenue sharing, where universities would pay student athletes directly from athletic department revenue. College athletic teams also now have roster limits, and there will be strict regulation over third-party NIL deals.
Former student-athletes who were part of the Damages Settlement Classes will also receive $2.576 billion, to be disbursed per the terms of the settlement agreement.
Unfortunately, this is not the end of the drama with the law and college sports. More lawsuits are expected over the roster limits and revenue-sharing cap. Legal experts in the field anticipate an appeal, which could delay certain aspects of the settlement.
However, for now, the NCAA has established a new enforcement organization, the College Sports Commission, to implement the changes outlined in the House Settlement. MLB executive Bryan Seeley was named the organization’s CEO on Friday.
The College Sports Commission has already issued a timeline for implementing the House Settlement.
UNM still has not issued an official press release or statement on how it will implement House Settlement changes.
As The Pit Press reported back on April 13, UNM’s Athletic Council’s March 6 Draft Meeting Minutes provide some information on how UNM Athletics will change amid revenue sharing and roster limits from the House Settlement.
The draft meeting minutes are available at https://facgov.unm.edu/senate/athletic/2025-03-06/.
