New basketball coach Justin Hutson has Valley ties Fresno State hopes will bring back fans

Justin Hutson, who on Thursday was introduced as the Fresno State Bulldogs' new basketball coach, was in San Antonio for the Final Four last weekend, knowing that in just a few days he would be in front of a search committee full of questions that didn't necessarily have anything to do with 94 feet of hardwood.

Plenty of time to stew, to mull those questions and his best answers. But arriving back in California the day before his interview, with his daughters, Janae and Jada, he drove home to Bakersfield, back to his roots. Hutson grew up in Bakersfield, played at Cal State Bakersfield, and started his coaching career at Bakersfield High.

The interview was at 8 a.m. back in Los Angeles, so he couldn't spend much time at home, but he knew one thing.

"I had to get a little taste of the Valley so I could get back and talk about it," Hutson said.

Those ties do tend to play large here, and Fresno State is hoping the 46-year-old Hutson will generate more interest in a program that has won a lot of games but in front of few fans at Save Mart Center. The team averaged just 6,033 per game last season.

"We've seen academically that the number of students that want to come to Fresno State has grown dramatically," university President Joseph Castro said. "I want to see that same enthusiasm among our community and I think we're capable of it

"I think it's connecting with them in a deeper way and I see coach doing that. He understands what it means to live in the Valley. Then, along with (interim athletics director Steve Robertello), we were looking for somebody who could inspire this generation of student-athletes and he gets that. He understands that and I think he's going to be great at motivating them to do their very best."

Already Hutson, hired away from Mountain West Conference rival San Diego State, is making a mark there.

All-conference guard Deshon Taylor, who can finish school this summer and play elsewhere next season as a graduate transfer, rooted himself in the Valley as well.

"I feel like I have to talk to him, but other than that, weighing my options to go to another school, I don't feel like I'm going to do that," Taylor said after the press conference. "I'm committed to this program."

Great news, Hutson said.

"That's a great first step," he said. "Deshon plays with the type of passion and character that I would like our whole team to play with."

The Bulldogs, who won 20 or more games for three seasons in a row and in four of the past five under former coach Rodney Terry, will carry approach through the transition.

"We're going to play very hard," Hutson said. "We're going to play great defense, it's starting there, and then we're going to play a fast style that utilizes the 3-point line and transition on offense. That's part of getting that Red Wave back."

Hutson has a long list of recruiting coups at San Diego State — Kawhi Leonard, Jamaal Franklin, Xavier Thames. But he also served as defensive coordinator the past five seasons for a team that could apply crushing pressure, utilizing length and athleticism.

San Diego State was ranked second in the nation in scoring defense in 2014, second in '15, third in '16 and 15th in '17; in field goal percentage it was eighth, seventh, first and eighth.

Last season the Aztecs were 41st and 54th, but were able to put together a six-game February run that propelled them into the Mountain West Conference Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament.

Terry, who bolted Fresno State for Texas-El Paso after seven seasons, had the Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament once, in 2016, their first dance in 15 years.

Hutson, who will receive a five-year contract worth $500,000 in the first year with $25,000 bumps over the length of the deal, will have a solid team to try to get his first Fresno State team back there next season starting with Taylor and forward Bryson Williams. But that is only part of the equation.

"It's going to start with me," Hutson said. "People are going to want to touch me, so I want to get out in the community. Not just Fresno, but Hanford, Visalia, Bakersfield, Corcoran. I have to get out there.

"We have to get the old Red Wave back and consistent and we also have to build some new Red Wave and get some excitement there and it starts with me. I'm excited to do it."

This story was originally published April 5, 2018 at 5:45 PM with the headline "New basketball coach Justin Hutson has Valley ties Fresno State hopes will bring back fans."