Fresno State enters Mountain West tournament with coach under pressure to win games

Fresno State coach Justin Hutson had a meeting with university president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval and athletics director Terry Tumey two days before the Bulldogs’ most-scintillating performance in a disappointing season, a 108-72 victory over win-for-hire Chicago State to end the regular season.

The message to Hutson, who has one year remaining on his contract, was clear: Win games at the Mountain West Tournament, which kicks off Wednesday with a first-round game between the No. 9-seed Bulldogs and No. 8 Colorado State at 11 a.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center.

It was not delivered as an ‘or else,’ but the implications also are clear with Fresno State (11-19, 6-12) finishing conference play with a losing record for a fourth year in a row, and a growing rift over scheduling, charter travel and other success-drivers at a Mountain West Conference level.

“We’ve had multiple meetings, and understand the importance of basketball success in postseason play. I think that’s a given,” said Tumey, who is in Las Vegas for the tournament. “I think we need to be successful here to make sure we’re moving in the right direction.

“It’s not a determining factor. There’s so much more to a season than just the ending of it. But it is part of that campaign, and the campaign is about our community engagement and how our community recognizes the program and how it’s going.”

Hutson in his first four seasons won more games than all but one coach in the Bulldogs’ Division I era and just last season Fresno State won The Basketball Classic postseason tournament behind forward Orlando Robinson, a player recruited by Hutson and his staff.

But, according to athletics department sources, there were never substantive conversations about a contract extension over the summer.

Hutson’s take: “It’s a big tournament for us … and for me.”

Hutson was hired in April 2018, about two months before Tumey and when Joseph I. Castro was university president. Hutson received a five-year contract worth $2.675 million ($500,000 in the first year, $525,000 in the second and $550,000 in years three through five), and in November 2019 signed a one-year extension after leading the Bulldogs to a 23-9 record and third-place conference finish in his first season.

He is the lowest paid basketball coach among the 10 public schools in the Mountain West.

Fresno State, if buying out the final year of Hutson’s contract, would owe him 80% of his base salary or $33,333.33 a month through the end of April 2024.

Bulldogs open tournament with Colorado State

Will it come to that?

The Bulldogs have not had much success with Colorado State, though they did have a five-point lead on the Rams with 39 seconds remaining when they played Feb. 18 at the Save Mart Center. Missed opportunities at the free-throw line cost Fresno State in that 60-57 loss, which was part of a tough stretch of games where it also had the score tied with six minutes to go at Nevada before losing by 11 and lost to San Diego State by two.

Colorado State has struggled at the defensive end, but not like Chicago State, which played 23 of its 31 games this season on the road and ended its season at 11-20 and with a West Coast road swing that included a 39-point loss at Gonzaga and a 36-point loss to the Bulldogs.

Also, not when playing Fresno State, Colorado State this season has allowed opponents to hit 44.8% of their shots and 37% at the 3-point line, ranking 10th in the conference in both. But the Bulldogs hit 38.8% and 34.8% in a 79-57 loss at Moby Arena in January and 39.7% and 21.7% in the three-point loss at the Save Mart Center in February.

A loss and the Bulldogs would lose 20 games for the first time since going 13-20 in 2011-12, and only the third time since the 1986-87 season.

“We’ve had a lot of success on a lot of people in this conference, but Colorado State has not been one the past few years,” Hutson said, after the Bulldogs beat Chicago State, which included a Save Mart Center-tying 43 points from guard Jemarl Baker on just 14 shots.

“We had them beat here, though. We can go back and look at that and see some things. Those games, it’s going to be 0-0 when we start with them on Wednesday and we’re going to bring these eight or nine guys that we’ve got healthy out there and be ready to fight.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2023 at 4:34 PM.