No Christmas miracle for Fresno State basketball under Vance Walberg, only more struggles | Opinion
The stucco colossus on Shaw Avenue won’t be the site of any miracles this winter, Christmas or otherwise.
Despite the onslaught of change brought about by first-year coach Vance Walberg, Fresno State men’s basketball finds itself in a familiar place. Outmanned. Undersized. On the losing side of the scoreboard.
“We’re going to have to play pretty darned perfect basketball to have a chance,” Walberg lamented Saturday afternoon after Cal Baptist sashayed in and out of Save Mart Center as 86-69 victors.
If the Bulldogs have to play darned near perfect to beat Cal Baptist, it makes you wonder how well they have to play to have a chance in their upcoming spate of games against the Mountain West’s upper echelon.
(No slight against Cal Baptist, a WAC member since 2018 that beat Fresno State for the second time in a month. The Lancers were 2½ -point road favorites and covered the spread with ease by pulling away in the second half.)
Halfway through Year 1, it should be obvious there will be no miracles nor sudden turnarounds under Walberg. And unless something clicks or mutates soon, the remainder of the season will be more painful than a root canal.
With 19 conference games remaining, including 12-14 where they’ll be heavy underdogs, the Bulldogs are 4-8 overall. The question now is whether Fresno State will avoid finishing with single-digit victories for the first time since 1988.
Justin Hutson’s teams may have been unwatchable toward the end of his tenure, but they never sunk to those lows. Nor did any of those coached by Rodney Terry, Steve Cleveland or Ray Lopes.
Fans with false assumptions
Over the last two decades, when Bulldogs men’s basketball went from the hottest ticket in town to playing before a smattering of fans in a 15,000-seat arena, Walberg received steadfast and vocal support from a certain segment of the Red Wave – whose ranks included some of the university’s most influential donors.
Those fans looked at Walberg’s track record at Clovis West High and Fresno City College, saw how NBA and college basketball teams borrowed from his dribble-drive offense and assumed every bit would translate to Fresno State. All Walberg had to do was bring in his type of players, install his system and the Bulldogs would be an instant smash.
Instead, Walberg’s first year is shaping up as a trainwreck.
“We’re limited, I’m not going to lie to you,” he told the assembled media Saturday. “We’re limited, but we’re trying to do the best we can.”
Walberg’s dribble-drive offense relies on motion and penetration to spread the court and create open 3-point shots. Coupled with a pressing defense to force as many possessions as possible.
The 68-year-old coach admits the Bulldogs are playing a “very modified” version of his system because they aren’t a good shooting team and don’t have enough depth to press. Saturday’s loss was especially dispiriting because they enjoyed their best 3-point display of the season (10 of 18) and still lost decisively because Cal Baptist controlled the glass and feasted on second-chance points.
The bad news didn’t stop there. Before the game Walberg announced that co-leading scorer Amar Augillard, one of 14 roster additions, had left the team.
“He wasn’t feeling the right vibes here, so we decided to part ways,” Walberg said afterward.
Rough stretch of MW games
Augillard’s departure leaves Fresno State with an even shorter rotation heading into a rough stretch. The Bulldogs resume MW play on Saturday night at UNLV. After that comes New Mexico, Utah State, Colorado State and Nevada – four of the six MW schools that received NCAA Tournament bids last season.
Fresno State is currently 285th (out of 364 Division I teams) in the NCAA Net Rankings used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee and 278th by hoops statistician Ken Pomeroy. Both rank last in the MW, with only Air Force anywhere near.
Walberg is quick to blame injuries for the Bulldogs’ woes, including a couple whose recovery time has been longer than anticipated. By getting hired three weeks after the transfer portal already opened, he also got a relatively late start in recruiting.
“We knew the first year was going to be tough – I just didn’t think it was going to be this tough,” he said. “Just from the fact that injuries put us so far behind.”
By signing a two-year contract, Walberg wasn’t given much breathing room. It also matters that he was hired not by Athletic Director Garrett Klassy (who came aboard three months later) but by President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, who relied on counsel from Vice President for Administration and CFO Debbie Astone-Ashidian and prominent boosters.
Astone-Ashidian is exiting at year’s end, meaning Walberg will lose a key ally in the upper administration and the boosters who pushed for his hire may not have as loud a voice.
It’s far too soon to pass judgment. Walberg certainly deserves more time to bring in players that better fit his system and implement his culture. But anyone who viewed Fresno State as a quick fix with the “right” coach should be disavowed of that foolish notion.
This story was originally published December 24, 2024 at 12:30 PM.
