Steve Alford
An Indiana basketball prince who traded a storybook playing career for a grueling, decades-long coaching odyssey across the college map.
Born 1964 (age 62)·American basketball player and coach·Birthday: November 23·Baby Boomers
Biography
Steve Alford's life has been framed by hardwood expectations. The son of a coach, he was a high school legend in Indiana, a state where basketball is religion. At Indiana University, he became the sharp-shooting embodiment of Coach Bob Knight's system, a deadeye guard whose leadership helped deliver a national championship in 1987. His professional playing career, however, never matched that collegiate glory. Alford found his true calling back in the coach's box. His journey has been a marathon tour of college programs—from Southwest Missouri State to Iowa, New Mexico, UCLA, and finally Nevada. His tenure at UCLA, charged with restoring its faded luster, was marked by high hopes and postseason disappointments. Alford's career is a study in the long, pressurized arc of a lifer in coaching, forever measured against the perfect moment of his youth.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Steve was born in 1964, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Steve Was Born
The biggest hits of 1964
#1 Movie
Mary Poppins
Best Picture
My Fair Lady
#1 TV Show
Bonanza
Steve's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1964Born
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1969Started school
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1977Became a teenager
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1980Could drive
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1982Could vote
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1985Turned 21
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1994Turned 30
Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $90,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"The Sign" — Ace of BaseBest Picture: Forrest Gump
2004Turned 40
Indian Ocean tsunami kills over 230,000
Gas: $1.88/galHome: $157,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Yeah!" — UsherBest Picture: Million Dollar Baby
2014Turned 50
Russia annexes Crimea; Ebola outbreak in West Africa
Gas: $3.37/galHome: $160,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Happy" — Pharrell WilliamsBest Picture: Birdman
2024Turned 60
AI reshapes industries; Paris Olympics
Gas: $3.31/galHome: $372,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Espresso" — Sabrina CarpenterBest Picture: Anora
2026Age 62 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won an NCAA national championship as a starting guard for the Indiana Hoosiers in 1987 under coach Bob Knight.
- Earned consensus First-Team All-American honors in 1987 and was a two-time Academic All-American.
- Coached the University of New Mexico Lobos to multiple Mountain West Conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances.
Did You Know?
He scored 2,438 career points at Indiana, a school record that stood for over 20 years.
Alford and his father, Sam Alford, are one of the few father-son duos to both have won Indiana's prestigious Mr. Basketball award.
He was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning basketball team while still a college player.
“I grew up in Indiana. Basketball is what we do.”
