For someone inclined to coach baseball, Adrian Wiggins is living large in women's basketball.

Fresno State's 36-year-old head man has guided his team to a program-best record of 27-6 and third- straight trip to the Women's NCAA Tournament.

The Bulldogs open play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Baylor in Berkeley after winning the Western Athletic Conference with a 16-0 record and receiving an at-large bid.

Fresno State athletic director Thomas Boeh this month said he doesn't know how much longer he can keep Wiggins. Power conference schools, Boeh reasoned, will soon start wooing the coach with financial offers too tempting to turn down.

All this success, and yet Wiggins threw a curveball this week when he admitted he still doesn't feel comfortable inside his coaching skin.

"There are times going against established coaches I'm thinking, 'Don't mess it up.' I'm more naive than confident, never think I'm good enough," said Wiggins, a former star left-hander on Division II Cameron University's baseball team in Oklahoma.

"I was born to be a pitching coach: I get it. Basketball isn't easy."

Wiggins immerses himself daily in books on basketball, pores over game film, seeks strategy from colleagues and exchanges ideas with assistants. He also stays on the lookout for motivational quotes to inspire players.

It's this attention to detail that has made Wiggins the envy of his WAC colleagues. They named him Coach of the Year for the second time last week.

"To Adrian's credit, if he lost that edge, he wouldn't be as successful a coach," said Bulldogs assistant Brett Frank, whose relationship with Wiggins goes back 10 years when they coached in Oklahoma for rival colleges.

Wiggins is 122-51 in five-plus seasons at Fresno State. He recruits undersized players from winning programs, teaches the skills to be successful and earns their trust by treating them with a firm yet compassionate hand.

His teams have won 22 or more games four times and advanced to the postseason five of the six seasons he's been in charge -- all without a blue-chip player.

"Coach treats us like adults and shows us the face we need to see," junior guard Jaleesa Ross said. "We see his passion. He puts in a lot of time for us, so he deserves the same.

"And we always know he'll be there for us. He takes time to know us individually, figures out what makes us tick to get us to respond."

The early years

Wiggins' coaching career, like many in his profession, began in rejection.

The year was 1996 when Wiggins, a 22-year-old assistant baseball coach at Cameron, walked into the office of Garrett Mantle, the local high school boys basketball coach to interview for an assistant's job.

"I didn't know 'come here' from 'sic 'em,'" laughed Wiggins in Oklahoma slang, meaning he didn't know squat about coaching basketball.

"Garrett asked me questions, I gave him all the wrong answers and he said, 'Thanks but no thanks.' I knew sports, just not how to break down basketball."

Six months later, Mantle offered the job to Wiggins.

"Everyone I talked to said Adrian was a special person of high character," said Mantle, a nephew of baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle. "He got in there and worked at it. He picks things up quick and is a fantastic teacher."

Wiggins said he saved Mantle's every practice outline and quote the one season they were together. The two still talk by phone weekly.

"We discuss how there's more to life than basketball -- that translates into developing better relationships with his players. That's why they play their guts out for him," said Mantle, now the boys and girls coach at Elk City High School in Elk City, Okla.