Fresno State enters Mountain West play and a pivotal stretch for coach Justin Hutson

Fresno State men’s basketball coach Justin Hutson is in year four now, the time seeming to fly by since winning 23 games that first season. And, to stand still last season when the Bulldogs were wrecked by the COVID-19 pandemic, a young group getting no summer or fall of physical or skill development in the weight room and gym, then stopping twice after they had started due to outbreaks and contact tracing protocols.

But Hutson has the Bulldogs winning basketball games again, with a relatively inexperienced lineup.

At 10-3 they are one of three teams in the Mountain West with double-digit wins headed into conference play Tuesday at Boise State, and through Christmas the Bulldogs were ranked 50th in the NCAA NET ratings, moving up from the initial rankings at the start of December when 93rd.

The Bulldogs coach is 56-43 with a higher winning percentage through 99 games (.566) than any Fresno State coach who made it that far going back to Jerry Tarkanian (.636) and then the two who preceded him and followed Boyd Grant (.717).

Measured by time on the floor, Hutson could be in year three, year two-and-a-half or even year two.

But measured by the college basketball coaches in that 2018-19 hiring cycle who already have received contract extensions, he may be even further behind there.

Athletics director Terry Tumey is cognizant of the challenges at Fresno State, which include one of the lowest operating budgets in the conference and a dreadfully low Academic Progress Rate score that Hutson inherited and limited his ability to turn over the Bulldogs roster after that first season.

“We all know what basketball has faced here the past couple of years,” said Tumey, who was hired in June 2018, two and a half months after Hutson. “We’re trying to mitigate some of those challenges and make it a more vibrant program, because he’s doing everything he can in recruiting to get the right people in here.

“Just recruiting well is not a recipe for success. The program needs to be in a better way to compete, and we’re talking about those things, as well. Better practice accommodations and things of that nature …”

A ‘pivotal’ year for Hutson at Fresno State

This season will be a pivotal one for Hutson.

“This is a performance-based environment and even though we’re seeing positives in what he has done so far, we do have to see the ultimate determining factor, which is winning and being competitive,” Tumey said.

“I think that’s still to be determined …”

Some coaches from that 2018-19 hiring cycle already have moved up or moved on, including Craig Smith going from Utah State to Utah and former Bulldogs coach Rodney Terry leaving Texas-El Paso to be an assistant at Texas.

But more than a dozen have received multi-year contract extensions including Kermit Davis (.562) who in November received a four-year contract through the 2024-25 season at Ole Miss. Dana Ford (.559) had two years added on to his deal through 2024-25 at Missouri State. A.W. Hamilton (.547) was extended through 2024-25 at Eastern Kentucky. Darrell Walker (.470) in 2020 had two years added to his deal through 2023-24 at Arkansas-Little Rock.

Michael Fly (.458) in September had two years added to his contract at Florida Gulf Coast through 2023-24. Griff Aldrich (.458) is now signed through the 2027-28 season at Longwood. Jeff Capel (.450), who signed a seven-year deal at Pitt, was extended for two years through 2026-27. Mike Morrell (.389) was entering his third season at UNC-Asheville when he received a two-year extension through 2022-23.

Hutson, who signed a five-tear contract worth $2.65 million and in his first season was honored as the Joe B. Hall national coach of the year, has a higher winning percentage than all of them at a school that has not had a great deal of basketball success over the past two decades.

Fresno State last advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2015-16, and has been that one time since 2000-01.

He also likes what he has going into Mountain West play, though, yes, he would like to be an older team at this point with a roster that better mirrors others in the conference.

‘Dogs developing into one of best defensive teams in nation

Boise State has seven seniors including its top three scorers. Colorado State, 10-0 and 26th in the NET ratings, is led by four juniors and three seniors. San Diego State has four seniors, one junior and one sophomore leading the team in minutes played and scoring. The team Hutson inherited at Fresno State was led by two fifth-year seniors in Deshon Taylor and Braxton Huggins and senior Sam Bittner.

“I wish these super seniors would have left in the other programs, or I wish we had a couple,” Hutson joked.

But Fresno State, with just one senior on its roster, this season is developing into one of the stingiest defensive teams in the nation. It is ranked third in scoring defense, allowing only 54.9 points per game. It is 23rd in field goal percentage defense and has finished possessions with its Division I opponents averaging just 6.0 offensive rebounds per game, the fewest allowed in the conference and 14th fewest in the nation.

The Bulldogs were without Arizona transfer guard Jemarl Baker at Cal and at Utah – Baker has played five games due to a knee injury and will miss an extended period. But if they had better managed their possessions at the offensive end at the end of their three road losses that record might be even better.

“I think you can envision in another year or two with these guys back again and you add the right pieces in, we’ll look like some of the teams we’re playing against,” Hutson said. “But I’m proud of these guys. They showed what they can do with a spring, a summer and a fall. They’re stronger – they’ve been in the weight room. They play better together. They’re better, and we’re better. But you’d still rather be older.

“Look at Jemarl. He brings a certain level of calmness out there, and we’re going to need that real soon. Talent and experience. There’s not going to be much that shocks him – he’s been at Kentucky, been at Arizona, been in some big games. I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to shock him much.”

What will it take, with the Bulldogs now in conference play? There is no magic number to hit to trigger an extension, whether for one year to get back the COVID season when the Bulldogs were for the most part practicing during games with nine new players, or a multi-year deal.

But Fresno State, which was picked to finish sixth in the Mountain West in a preseason media poll, has overachieved almost every season since moving up to the Mountain West from the Western Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs have finished in the top four four times in the past six seasons and never been worse than tied for seventh – San Diego State and Boise State are the only other teams to not finish in the bottom third.

“When you have programs that are comprehensively moving in the right direction you want to continue to support that leadership,” Tumey said. “The one thing about Coach Hutson, it’s not a contractual motivation.

“Internally, he is a person who wants to see that success. That’s what makes him really perfect for being a Bulldog. He wants to see excellence from this community, from these student-athletes, for this university. It has nothing to do with what he’s experiencing personally or contractually. That’s a great attribute.”

This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 8:38 AM.