SAN JOSE, Calif. — On the surface, Saturday's demoralizing 82-64 loss to the University of Washington didn't give New Mexico Lobos fans much to cheer about.

The team's dream season was over.

The career of fan-favorite Roman Martinez came to an end.

The future of Darington Hobson with the program is uncertain at best as the NBA is calling.

And, no matter how absurd fans may say it is, critics' constant cries of the Lobos' soft scheduling leading to an inflated NCAA Tournament seeding look to be legitimized, at least for one day.

But there was a silver lining that softened the sting of the cherry red embarrassment.

Dairese Gary used the biggest stage in college basketball to announce his presence as the undisputed leader of the program, showing there is still a bright future for the Lobos.

"He'll go into the senior year with the opportunity to be the winningest player in Lobo basketball history," UNM head coach Steve Alford said. "... I think he goes into his senior year being the best guard in our league — if not one of the best in the country. I think he's done those type of things here in the last month to warrant that."

Even before his 25-point showing in the UW loss, Gary had already quietly taken the reins so graciously passed to him by Martinez.

"They're going to be just fine next year with Dairese leading the way," Martinez said. "Look at how he's led this team this year. He keeps getting better and this team will to because of him."

Gary, the 6-foot-5, 205-pound junior from Elkhart, Ind., will lead a Lobos team next year that won't have the benefit of flying under the radar. People will know what's coming, but Gary doesn't seemed phased.

Consider the comments of Huskies point guard Venoy Overton made Friday afternoon when preparing for Gary.

"He's a strong aggressive driver," Overton said, "so we're going to want to pick him up full court and ... we would rather him shoot a contested shot than getting all the way to the cup."

They tried, but of Gary's 25 points Saturday, 22 were charted as being in the paint (10 layups and one jumper).

Alford has hinted that the 2010-11 Lobos could be better, even if the record might not be, than the team that just won a school-record 30 games.

The reason for the optimism stems from expected upgrades in depth and size.

If Hobson returns, the starting five will look similar with Gary (point guard), Phillip McDonald (guard), Hobson (guard/forward) and A.J. Hardeman (forward) again starting, as they did in all 35 games this past season. The fifth spot will just be a place-holder early on — likely filled by reserve guard Nate Garth — until mid-December when 6-foot-9 power forward Drew Gordon gains eligibility after transferring from UCLA last fall, where he was the Bruins' starting center.

If size was the biggest question mark for the Lobos this season, reports that Gordon has been a beast in Lobos practices (he's allowed to practice with the team, just not play until he sits out a full academic year) suggest that is about to change. Hardeman and reserve Will Brown were a two-man front court this season as Hobson, while a very capable rebounder, rarely played a traditional forward position.

The addition of Gordon and Los Alamos High's 6-11 Alex Kirk — if he doesn't redshirt to add strength — transform the Lobos from a team with a weakness in the paint to arguably one of the deeper post teams in the West.

And considering the team will be led from a fourth-year starting point guard who used the NCAA Tournament to officially take over the team's leadership duties, there is hope for Lobos fans that next year the team may get another stab at making the Sweet 16.

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3060 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at grammerschoolblog.com.