Fresno State coach, family give $1M to support basketball. ‘I hate losing’

Fresno State men’s basketball coach Vance Walberg and his family have donated $1 million to the Valley Co-Op, the athletics department’s fundraising initiative that helps pay for a program’s operational needs, including the recruitment and retention of student-athletes.

Walberg and his family donated the money to try and reverse the fortunes of a team in sharp decline and perhaps kickstart fundraising into the future, the coach told The Fresno Bee.

“I hate losing,” said Walberg, who has been an assistant coach in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings. “I knew, coming in, exactly what this was, but for me each year, I want to make it a little bit better, a little bit better, and a little bit better.

“Unfortunately, that’s going to cost money. I have to find a way to put a good enough program out there that people will get behind it and support it.”

NCAA rules prohibit coaches from making direct donations to third-party Name Image and Likeness efforts (NIL) that pay players, but several prominent college football coaches have made significant contributions through workarounds in recent years, contributing to other athletics fundraising initiatives connected to their schools.

The Bulldogs finished just 6-26 last season in Walberg’s first season at the school, playing through injury and eligibility issues and a gambling investigation that culminated with the NCAA revoking the eligibility of two former players who altered their performances to win proposition parlay bets.

The program also has been hurt by a lack of revenue, due, in part, to its financial arrangement at the Save Mart Center, where it plays home games. The athletics department receives no cut of signage, suite leases, parking or concessions revenue from the arena, and on game days it pays for staples including security, housekeeping and utilities.

The former Clovis West High coach in April 2024 signed an unconventional three-year deal with an option for two more years that included a guarantee the university would not exercise a right of non-retention for the first two years of the deal. The base salary last season was $595,000, and is $608,000 the next two years. But starting on May 1, the university could move on from Walberg with a buyout of $164,070, which represents just 50% of the university portion of his salary. The university pays about 55% of his total annual salary, with the remainder covered by the Fresno State Athletic Corporation.

Losing recruits to bigger deals

Walberg said it became obvious to him that the Bulldogs’ revenue-sharing efforts and NIL funds needed a jolt when he and his staff were working to put together a roster.

In his first season, Walberg recruited three players who played prominent roles and all three transferred at the end of the year, receiving substantially more NIL money from other programs.

Guard Brian Amuneke transferred to Wichita State, forward Elijah Price ended up at Mountain West rival Nevada, and forward Alex Crawford will play his final season at Rhode Island.

Fresno State last season had a little more than $600,000 in its NIL pool, and those three players combined accounted for about $150,000 of it, according to Walberg. The Bulldogs’ coach said those three players combined will be paid a total of $1.15 million at their new schools.

In recruiting, the Bulldogs also found themselves up against the new reality of college athletics in the revenue-sharing and NIL era. Walberg said he and his staff had players ready to commit, sent those players NIL agreements, and then they’d use the offer to shop around for better deals at other schools. Fresno State failed to sign any of the four, Walberg said.

“There were kids we felt we had and the next thing we know, we offered a kid $250,000 and he came in and loved the visit, loved what we did with them, and then someone else offered $600,000,” Walberg said. “The next kid is offered $500,000 …”

Walberg said he can’t blame them for taking the bigger deal elsewhere. “There’s loyalty and there’s stupidity. Stupidity is, ‘I’m going to come back because I like the coach for $1,000 a month and give up $35,000 a month,” he told reporters in a media scrum after practice one day this week.

Fresno State was able to sign three transfers including shooting guard Jake Heidbreder, who started his college career at Air Force and played last season at Clemson.

The school also has recruited internationally, signing players from Mexico, Slovenia, Italy and France.

NIL opportunities are far more restricted for foreign student-athletes, who are on F-1 visas that limit their ability to work in the United States., with most focusing on passive income through royalties on T-shirt or other apparel sales and promotional work that is done outside the U.S.

This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 8:51 AM.