Watch: Fresno State retires jersey No. 24 in honor of basketball star Yvette Roberts

Fresno State retired jersey No. 24 in honor of women’s basketball standout Yvette Roberts in a halftime ceremony during the Bulldogs’ 61-54 loss to Colorado State on Saturday at the Save Mart Center, and though she has known about the honor for some time she admitted it did hit a little different, seeing her jersey in the rafters.

“I’ve known about it, but it’s not so real until you get here, right?” said Roberts, who is regarded as one of the best athletes to come out of Fresno County and was inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016. “It’s not so real until you see it roll down and it has your name on it. Emotional, very emotional.”

Roberts was a star track athlete and basketball player at Washington Union High before Fresno State, where she set school records with 1,778 points, 646 field goals and 38 double-doubles. Those marks have since been surpassed, but Roberts still holds school records with 984 rebounds and 486 made free throws.

She also is the only Bulldogs player to be a three-time American Women’s Sports Federation All-American, earning second team honors in in 1987, fourth team in 1988 and third team in 1989.

The No. 24 is only the second jersey to be retired in Fresno State women’s basketball history, and is hanging next to the No. 34 of her former teammate, Wendy Martell.

Roberts was joined by family, friends, former teammates and her team at Edison High, where she coaches basketball, and that was not lost in the moment.

“It’s important, right?” she said. “I’m tangible. They get to see that if I do dedicate myself to a sport, I don’t care what sport it is, work hard, put the time in, because it’s a lot of time, you can get what you want. You can get that scholarship. You can go play overseas.

“Hopefully, somebody can play in the women’s NBA. That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to show them it’s possible. I’m from Fresno. I grew up here. I played here. I’m actually a Fresno County child. That means a lot, so people in the area know, ‘You know, that is right, I can do that.’”

This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 8:12 PM.