Fresno State’s basketball coach is just 25 games in. Could he already be a lame duck?
When Fresno State hired Vance Walberg, it gave the 68-year-old basketball coach what amounts to a win-now contract, and the Bulldogs have not won much at all.
They are in fact staggering into the stretch of a historic losing season. This Bulldogs’ team is the fastest of seven in school history to lose 20 games. They are ranked 341st among 364 Division I teams in field goal percentage and 347th in field goal percentage defense, through Wednesday. They are ranked 358th in points allowed per game, 352nd in rebounding percentage and 351st in point differential. With six games and the Mountain West Tournament remaining, the Bulldogs are 5-20, 1-13 in conference play and likely to fly by the school record of 21 losses in a single season.
The Bulldogs have been impacted by injuries, but there is a stark reality in those numbers. After just 25 games, is it possible that his contract makes Walberg a lame duck coach?
Fresno State, in hiring the former Clovis West High coach, said that it would not make a move toward non-retention in the first two years of the unconventional three-year deal that includes an option for an additional two years and is worth $595,000 this season and $608,000 the next two seasons.
The contract says that Fresno State “reserves the right to non-retain employee from employment without cause prior to the completion of the term of the appointment; provided, however, that the university and the Athletic Corporation agree not to exercise of (sic) the right of non-retention during the first two years of the three-year term (through April 30, 2026).”
This season and next Walberg can be fired for cause; major NCAA rules violations, gross negligence, insubordination, dishonesty, immoral or unprofessional conduct, violation of university policies, drunkenness on duty, and the like.
But if a second season is anything like the first, can there be a third?
University president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, who hired Walberg two weeks after parting ways with former athletics director Terry Tumey and two months before hiring athletics director Garrett Klassy, has few wins on the basketball court to show for his high-risk coaching hire.
University president “fully supportive” of his hire
“I remain fully supportive of coach Walberg and his efforts to elevate our men’s basketball program,” the president said, in a statement to The Bee. “Coaching transitions are always a process, and year one is typically about laying the foundation for long-term success — building culture, instilling systems and setting a clear direction for the program.”
On the contract, Jiménez-Sandoval said last month, “The structure of his contract reflects our commitment to providing the stability necessary for coach Walberg to implement his vision and engage the community in meaningful ways.
“We recognize this is a transitional period, and our focus remains on supporting our student-athletes and creating a program that embodies the greatness of our Bulldog spirit. We are confident in coach Walberg and his staff as they continue to build toward sustainable success, and we look forward to seeing progress in the season’s ahead.”
But, in the NCAA transfer portal era, and even before it, there have been coaches who must build rosters as Walberg had to in his first season at Fresno State and have successfully elevated their programs.
Starting from zero? Others have done it
When Utah State hired coach Danny Sprinkle two seasons ago, he had to start almost from zero. The Aggies, an NCAA Tournament team the previous season, were one of three teams in the nation that did not have a returning player that had scored even one point. Sprinkle reloaded, and Utah State ran off 15 wins in a row after a 1-1 start and ended up 28-7 with a regular-season Mountain West championship.
Jerrod Calhoun, who replaced Sprinkle after he left for Washington after just one season, has the Aggies 22-3 and 12-2 in the Mountain West with nine new players including six transfers.
Washington State this season had only two players returning from a 25-10 team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament under coach Kyle Smith, who left for Stanford. Coach David Riley, hired away from Eastern Washington, replenished the roster with transfers, added a few players from overseas and has the Cougars at 16-10, though late January was a struggle through a rough stretch of games on the road.
Sprinkle, Calhoun and Riley at least inherited solid programs.
Coach Sundance Wicks last season took on Green Bay after it went 3-29 the previous season and a combined 16-71 over the past three. He rebuilt his roster and in his first season, the Phoenix improved by 15 wins to go 18-14. Coach Jordan Mincy inherited a program at Jacksonville in 2021-22 that had four losing seasons in a row and nine in 10 years. He overhauled his roster, building around his leading returning scorer, and went 21-10 in his first season, earning a new nine-year contract. High Point had four losing seasons in a row and six in seven years when it hired Coach Alan Huss, who recruited five transfers and four freshmen and in his first season in 2023-24 went 27-9.
At Cal State Northridge, Coach Andy Newman last season had three returning players from a seven-win team with no history of success. The Matadors had not won 10 games in any of the three previous seasons, and had not had a winning season in 14 years.
But Newman, coming off a highly-successful run at Division II Cal State San Bernardino, won 19 games in his first season at Northridge, including a victory at UCLA that ended the Bruins’ 29-game winning streak at Pauley Pavilion and was the Matadors’ first victory over a Pac-12 opponent in 11 years.
Quick turnarounds are not unusual in college basketball
Sprinkle and Newman also were hired later in the hiring cycle than Walberg, and Wicks left Green Bay last season for Wyoming on May 12. Wicks brought in eight transfers and two freshmen, and has the Cowboys 11-14 and 4-10 in the Mountain West with victories over Nevada and UNLV.
The Cowboys’ point differential in the Mountain West is minus-6.2, the Bulldogs is minus-13.1.
Quick turnarounds do happen. It just has not happened under Walberg, who had not been a Division I head coach since a brief stint at Pepperdine that ended in 2008. His record there: 14-35, a .286 winning percentage.
There is a legitimate question whether it’s possible for Fresno State to change the trajectory of its basketball program until it is out from under debt on the Save Mart Center, which is not scheduled to occur until 2031. The lack of revenue coming from suite leases, signage inside the arena, parking and concessions sales hits the athletics department hard, and the basketball program is one of worst-funded in the conference.
Expecting immediate results might not be fair, especially considering the resource challenges for the program that add to the degree of difficulty. Fresno State invested $3.8 million in its basketball program in 2022-23, while San Diego State at the top of the Mountain West reported $9.1 million in basketball expenses. Colorado State reported $5.9 million, UNLV, Nevada and Utah State $5.3 million, New Mexico $5 million.
But the stability Jiménez-Sandoval spoke to would likely come with a more conventional contract of five or even six years.
The two option years available, at $622,000 per year, is at the sole discretion of the university president, in consultation with the athletics director.
The buyout in the Walberg contract also makes it easier to move on, after a second season. If the Bulldogs’ coach is not retained any time in the third year, after May 1, 2026, he would receive a lump sum of $164,700 or about 50% of the portion of his salary that is paid by the university; the other part is paid by its Athletic Corporation.
The non-retention clause in the contracts of several Fresno State head coaches states that they will be paid 80% of the total base salary remaining due to the employee through the end date of the appointment, unless they accept comparable employment elsewhere.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 5:30 AM.