Vince Wesson, ex-Fresno State football star and sports community leader, dies at 56
Vince Wesson, who showed a knack for making big plays on the football field at Clovis West High and Fresno State and became a fixture in the prep sports community, died Saturday.
He was 56. His passing was confirmed by Fresno State, where he starred in the 1980s, and via a flood of tributes on Twitter. There was no immediate word on the cause of death.
Wesson played for Fresno State from 1982 to 1985 and was on Pacific Coast Athletic Association championship teams as a freshman and senior under coach Jim Sweeney.
He made one of the greatest receptions in Bulldogs history, catching the game-tying pass from Jeff Tedford with 11 seconds remaining in a 29-28 victory over Bowling Green in the 1982 California Bowl, capping a comeback from a 21-point deficit.
Earlier that season, the former walk-on caught a second-quarter touchdown pass from Tedford, the first of his career, that proved to be the winning points in a 10-4 victory at Oregon.
Two years later, the 5-foot-9 wideout caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kevin Sweeney with 35 seconds remaining to lift the Bulldogs to a 27-22 victory at Arizona to open the season.
“I swear, I don’t know what it is,” Wesson told The Bee after that game. “But, my whole life, I’ve been in the right place at the right time. It’s like I’ve always been on base with two out and the game on the line.”
Later in that 1984 season, Wesson threw two for touchdowns and caught two TD passes from Sweeney in a 43-18 victory over Utah State. He is the only Fresno State player to throw for two and catch two scores in the same game.
Wesson finished his Fresno State career with 55 receptions for 724 yards and eight touchdowns. He was 3 of 4 as a passer for 99 yards and three touchdowns, including those to Sweeney and Larry Willis in the 1984 victory over Utah State at a sold-out Bulldog Stadium.
After his playing career, Wesson remained active in the local sports community. He was an analyst on radio broadcasts of Bulldogs football games and later did commentary on high school football.
Wesson helped lead the drive to bring the Central Section basketball championships to one site, Selland Arena, and to annually organize it as one of the central Valley’s premier events of the year.
In 2019, Wesson was inducted into the Clovis West Football Hall of Fame, where he was a three-sport letter winner. He was inducted along with linebacker Brad Bell, running back Kendall Brock and the Eagles’ 2010 CIF Central Section championship team.
“Vince has been our analyst for Friday Night Rivals for its entire 10-season run. Vince was a husband, father, and a friend,” wrote Matt Morse, general manager for KMPH/KFRE television. “Personally, I met Vince when I was in fourth grade, he was my basketball coach at Nelson Elementary. Fast forward to when I started at Channel 26, he saw me from the lobby waved me over, and remembered my name.”
“Vince was beloved in the community and will be remembered as a Clovis West grad, Fresno State football star, and the man who brought HS Basketball Championships to Selland Arena,” Morse continued. “He was a true giant in the Valley high school sports world. He will be missed.”
Wesson’s continued commitment to high school sports drove many of the tributes to him Saturday.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Wesson family!,” the Buchanan High football Twitter page posted. “Thank you Vince for everything you did for our community and our Valley!”
Longtime prep sports commentator Nick Papagni also took the news hard.
“Devastating news,” he wrote, in all caps. “Former Clovis West Golden Eagles & Fresno State Bulldog great, Vince Wesson, has passed away suddenly.
“Vince, huge part of our community for local sports. Vince was a Bulldog hero and leader in getting HS championship to Selland Arena.”
Madera High football remembered Wesson as a “shining light in our football community.”
“We will miss seeing him on Friday nights with that infectious smile and we will always have your Philly cheesesteak waiting for you at the games!”
Central Section high school booster
Wesson developed and retained close to high school football teams in the Fresno and Clovis areas and throughout the Central Section, taking time to stop by practices and talk to players and coaches.
In 2010, KMPH hired Wesson as the analyst for “Friday Night Rivals,” its weekly series of high school football telecasts on sister station CW-59, pairing him with veteran Valley broadcaster Ralph Wood.
Local coaches were appreciative of his efforts to boost prep football, in general, as well as their individual schools.
“I’m going to miss seeing him at the games,” Central High coach Kyle Biggs said. “He did so much for Friday night football and trying to promote kids and the Valley. It was bigger than him.”
Bullard co-head coach Yosef Fares echoed Biggs’ thoughts.
“He was such a good soul,” he said. “Nice guy and full of energy and a great ambassador for the game. That is going to leave a void in high school football. It is shocking and sad. I’m going to miss him.”
Bringing Valley championships to Selland
Wesson also coached and umpired youth sports and enjoyed seeing games played out on fields big and small throughout the Valley. He wound up providing the area’s top basketball teams access to one of the grandest stages in the state.
For years, Central Section basketball championship games were decided at host schools. For high school fans such as Wesson, it meant having to choose which game to watch.
Enter section championship weekend at Fresno’s Selland Arena.
It became a reality in 2004.
Wesson and Don Collins brought the proposal to then-Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Pete Mehas and quickly won him over.
“They didn’t have to do much selling,” Mehas later recalled. “Basketball in this area is at a level where kids deserve this venue. We feel very privileged to be part of it.”
Wesson became the event chairperson and remembered the early praise he received from a Fresno Bee sportswriter.
“The ultimate compliment, however, came when I said hello to ... Lisa Houk at press row, who stated, ‘This is awesome Vince! It reminds me of an NCAA regional.’ If you’ve ever gone to a regional or a Final Four event, words like Lisa’s don’t sound any sweeter!”
More high school memories
A big honor came his way in 2019, when Clovis West — one of the state’s top high school athletic programs — inducted Wesson into its Hall of Fame.
Wesson played football, baseball and basketball for the Golden Eagles from 1978-1982 and was chosen to play in City/County All-Star games.
His commitment to give back to the high school sports community did not go unnoticed or underappreciated, said Clovis West athletic director Matt Loggins, who couldn’t help but chat up Wesson even while they were both on the job.
“Always supported all of our student-athletes,” Loggins said. “I will miss visiting with him at softball games. When he umpired at Clovis West, we would always talk between innings.”
Clovis West football coach Tim Randall called Wesson a “great advocate for high school sports and Clovis West.”
“Vince is a legend in the Clovis West community,” he said. “He was just a legendary figure in sports and in the media. It’s terrible and shocking.”
Former Washington Union boys basketball coach Vonn Webb said he started his friendship with Wesson when he started at Clark Intermediate.
“I have always said, blood doesn’t make you family, love does. We were family,” Webb said. “We coached, taught, traveled, laughed and cried together.
“Vince was the one who was integral to me in getting my first head coaching job at Washington Union. If not for him, I would have never got my opportunity.”
Former Kingsburg basketball coach Mark Bray called Wesson a “very genuine” person.
“He was always about my nephew (Tyler),” an eventual NFL quarterback, Bray said. “A lot of good moments. I know what he meant to me. He made high school sports special. Sports was always in his blood and always gave players their props.”
Biggs said he has known Wesson “almost my whole life.” Wesson played for Biggs’ father, an assistant at Clovis West. It came full circle when Wesson coached Biggs as a seventh- and eighth-grader at Clark Intermediate.
One moment remains particularly memorable.
“When I was in eighth grade, he came out of the snack bar dressed up in full gear to be the scout team running back,” he said. “We still talk about it — and we won the game over Kastner Intermediate — and went 8-0, undefeated.
“He was doing the best he could to help many kids.”
Wesson is survived by his wife, Sandy, and his daughters Jules and Jett.
This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 4:17 PM.
