Prep basketball coaches react to Fresno State hiring Vance Walberg. ‘He’ll get it going’
Bullard High boys basketball coach Tim Amundsen is excited that Vance Walberg is the next Fresno State men’s basketball coach.
It’s not because he doesn’t have to coach against Walberg anymore. It’s because he once played for Walberg in 1985 at Newark Memorial.
He felt Walberg should’ve been the coach when it became open in 2005 before Fresno State named Steve Cleveland the head coach.
Walberg ended up at Pepperdine in 2006 after a stint at Fresno City College.
“He’ll get it going,” Amundsen said. “He’s as good as anybody I’ve been around. I feel like they got it right and we’ll see how long it takes to get it going.”
San Joaquin Memorial coach Brad Roznovsky said he’s excited for Walberg and feels he’s very deserving of getting another opportunity in Division I.
“I’m excited for Vance because it’s a job he kind of been wanting 20 years ago,” he said.
“I think it’s going to be great. I do. I know a lot of people probably differ from my opinion, but I think it’s great for the Valley to bring in a local guy. He’s got ties all over the United States with the NBA and college coaches. He’s going to bring back some fire and some fans in that arena.”
Walberg is the 20th Fresno State coach in school history.
He coached at Clovis West from 1989 to 2002 before moving up to Fresno City College, where he went 133-11 with a state championship in 2005. He returned to Clovis West in 2016 after being fired by the Sacramento Kings. He also was an assistant with the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers.
Walberg has a record of 559-104 in 21 seasons at Clovis West, with 18 league championships. His overall record at the prep level is 697-195, according to Central Section historian Bob Barnett.
Clovis East coach Adrian Wiggins said he’s “super happy for him.”
“Vance is a very good basketball coach,” he said. “I tell everybody that when I came here in this league that I was excited professionally about being challenged and to be able to learn from the coaches. That a lot of them were better than what I experienced in Division 1. I wasn’t joking about that, and I still feel that way. Nobody’s going to work harder and the way the game is set up now, with the ability to go and find players quickly through the portal, I’m really excited to see what he can do with that.”
Sanger coach Al Alvarado felt Walberg should’ve been the coach 20 years ago before Fresno State said otherwise.
Nonetheless, Alvarado is happy Walberg finally gets to stay home and coach at Fresno State.
“Well deserving,” he said. “I think he’s going to bring bodies to the Save Mart Center. I think that’s what everybody wants and I think he’s going to do a great job.”
