It was ‘a little scary,’ but Vance Walberg leads Fresno State to victory in Bulldogs debut
Fresno State opened the Vance Walberg era on Friday with a whole lot of new, including a roster with 14 players that were playing elsewhere a year ago.
There also were 5,657 people in the stands at the Save Mart Center, which also is new considering that Bulldogs men’s basketball became an afterthought the past few seasons under former coach Justin Hutson.
That is not a huge number by any stretch, especially in the Mountain West Conference.
But three seasons ago, Fresno State had just 2,820 at its season-opener amid declining on-court results and interest.
Winning is not new, at least in the opener.
But the Bulldogs did that, too, coming back a seven-point deficit at halftime to beat Sacramento State 64-57.
Guard Amar Aguillard scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to help Walberg win his Fresno State debut after highly successful runs at Fresno City College and Clovis West High.
“A little scary,” the Bulldogs coach said. “We didn’t shoot the ball the way I wanted to shoot it, but I thought we played hard. I thought we did a lot of good things out there. And any time you win, it’s great. The best drug around is winning. Very proud of the kids.”
Walberg said the victory had not quite settled in, immediately after the game. But it has been a long road to the top basketball job in a city, where he has had an immense impact at the high school and junior college levels with his dribble drive motion offense.
“The biggest thing is there’s a big smile on my face, which is awesome,” he said. “I always tell the guys, enjoy tonight and then tomorrow is the next game. But, enjoy tonight.”
The Bulldogs could with Aguillard hitting 7 of his 12 shots over the final 20 minutes, including a 3-pointer off an assist by point guard Zaon Colllins with 40 seconds remaining to push the Bulldogs lead to six at 63-57.
It’s one game, but the 6-foot-5 guard Aguillard, who was the NJCAA player of the year last season at Triton College in Illinois, scored at all three levels including a three, a layup and a jumper early in a two-minute stretch early in the second half as Fresno State took a lead. If the Bulldogs get that with any consistency, that would be new, too.
“Amar will drive you crazy,” Walberg said. “He’s one of those guys that at times you’ll go, ‘What are you doing?’ But the thing I love about him, he’s got that attitude. He wants to score, he wants to put the ball in the hole and we needed it. He hit some big shots.”
Aguillard, on the floor for just 22 minutes, finished 9 of 19 shots (47.3%) while the rest of the team was a combined 12 of 42 (28.6%).
“It was just a hot one,” he said. “(Walberg), he questions some of my shots, but today he didn’t really say nothing. He just let me play the game.”
The Bulldogs were one of the last Division I teams to play a game this season, beating only Hawaii, Merrimack and Youngstown State to the court.
More than 350 teams from the Atlantic Sun to the Western Athletic Conference and in every league in between had played at least one game, many had played two and a few had played three by the time the Bulldogs tipped off.
With the first win out of the way, Walberg and the Bulldogs now have to figure out how to keep the fans engaged and avoid being out of sight, out of mind.
Fresno State plays only one more home game this month, Nov. 20 against Prairie View A&M. Seven of the Bulldogs’ first 10 games are on the road or on a neutral court.
“It was awesome,” Walberg said. “I think little by little the people are going to enjoy the way we play the game. I think it’s a fun style. We’re a little short right now with some bodies, and once we get one or two more, I think it’s going to be a lot more enjoyable to where we can at least push it a little more.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2024 at 11:48 PM.