Fresno State’s Grimes travels with team to Air Force. Hutson sets bar for allowing him to play

Fresno State forward Nate Grimes, who last week was suspended indefinitely by coach Justin Hutson, traveled with the team for a Mountain West Conference game on Tuesday at Air Force.

Hutson said that if the 6-foot-8 senior continues working “in the right direction” that he would be reinstated with the Bulldogs looking to break free from a stretch in which they have lost two games in a row and four of the past five.

Grimes, who ranks third in the conference with 9.5 rebounds per game, practiced with the team on Monday before the Bulldogs headed to the airport for a flight to Colorado.

The Bulldogs (6-14, 2-7 in the MW) had split two games earlier this month when Grimes was out with a wrist injury, losing at San Diego State and beating San Jose State. But they were run out of their own building on Saturday in an 87-53 loss to Boise State, suffering their worst loss ever at the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State at 2-7 in the Mountain West has matched its worst start since joining the conference – it also was 2-7 in 2013 and again in ‘14, its first two seasons in the league.

In 2013, the Bulldogs ended up 5-11 and in seventh place in the conference, but in 2014 they rallied to finish 9-9 and in a tie for fifth place. That season ended with Fresno State losing to Siena in the best-of-three championship series in the CBI postseason tournament.