Fresno State launches basketball coach search. Here’s a list of potential candidates

Fresno State has posted its basketball coach job. It provides some insight on what it is looking for and could narrow the pool of candidates, but no hint at how fast the university will move.

The posting lists an anticipated salary range of $49,583 per month, just shy of $600,000 a year, which while a little more than Fresno State paid coach Justin Hutson, it still ranks at the bottom of the public schools in the Mountain West Conference. Candidates must also have a minimum of five years experience coaching basketball at the collegiate or professional levels, though head coaching experience is preferred and not required.

Here is a list of potential candidates for the Bulldogs job.

Tarvish Felton, New Mexico assistant coach

Felton, who has had stints as assistant in the Mountain West at Utah State, Fresno State and now New Mexico, is overdue for an opportunity to run a program. He was on staff with Hutson at Fresno State for four years, the last two as associate head coach. He knows the league, and knows how to win in the league. He spent 10 years at Utah State, and the Aggies won 20-plus games five times and 30-plus games twice in his tenure. New Mexico also just won the Mountain West Tournament and is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013-14. There are, however, a number of jobs open in the West where he would be a good fit.

Frank Haith, Texas assistant

Haith, who also is on staff with former Bulldogs coach Rodney Terry at Texas, could be looking at head coaching opportunities. He had solid stints at Tulsa and Miami and a lot of success in three seasons at Missouri, where he was 76-28, won a Big 12 tournament title and twice took the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament. Haith is in his 34th season in college basketball and has been a head coach for 18 of them. Would he be a good fit in Fresno? Working for Terry, he will be well aware of some of the challenges at Fresno State, but he is a proven head coach who could be ready and looking for a next opportunity and could attract high-level talent.

Byron Jones, Texas assistant coach

Jones was an assistant to Terry at Fresno State, which included a significant jump to the Mountain West from the Western Athletic Conference. They steadily built the program and in year five won 25 games and took the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 seasons. Jones understands the lack of resources built into the program and helped successfully navigate through them, which is something other candidates would have to learn on the job. He also has been an assistant through winning stints at Troy and at UNC Wilmington, when the Seahawks made two NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons.

Ryan Miller, Creighton assistant coach

Miller is regarded as one of the top recruiters in the country and has spent time in the Mountain West at UNLV and New Mexico. At UNLV in 2014 and 2015 he helped land recruiting classes that were ranked fifth and 11th in the nation. He also has spent time at TCU, Auburn, Pepperdine and Memphis. Miller is in his third season at Creighton. The Blue Jays made it to the NCAA Tournament in the first two of those seasons and likely will again on Selection Sunday. They have been ranked as high as No. 7 last season and No. 8 this season. Miller has coached on six teams that went to the NCAA Tournament, and won five league titles.

Andy Newman, Cal State Northridge coach

Newman, in his first season at Northridge, is intriguing. He was on the Fresno State staff in 2002-03 when the Bulldogs won a Western Athletic Conference championship and had a highly-successful four-year run as a head coach at Division II Cal State San Bernardino that included three trips to the NCAA Tournament including a Final Four run in 2022-23. The Coyotes set a school scoring record and won 31 games that season. He took over a Northridge program that had 14 losing seasons in a row and in his first year led the Matadors to a 19-15 finish. That is the most wins Northridge has had in a season since it won 20 games in 2007-08.

Quincy Pondexter, Washington assistant coach

Pondexter just finished his third season as an assistant at his alma mater and lacks the coaching resume of Fresno State’s past two hires — Terry and Hutson were long-time assistants when hired at Fresno State. The required five years experience also could become an issue, though Fresno State can alter its posted job description. But the Fresno product could be a perfect fit given his community ties and NBA profile. A Pondexter hire could spur local donors and business to build an NIL program comparable to others in the Mountain West, boosting the Bulldogs’ potential on the recruiting trail. The lack of experience is a question mark, however.

Todd Simon, Bowling Green coach

Simon is a former assistant at UNLV and was interim coach in 2016 after coach Dave Rice was let go after an 0-3 start in conference play. Simon went 9-8, in an injury-riddled season. He then was hired at Southern Utah and in seven seasons won 20 or more games three times and took teams to the Collegeinsider postseason tournament, The Basketball Classic and the College Basketball Invitational. Simon, in his first season at Bowling Green, has the Falcons 20-12 after a win over Central Michigan in a MAC quarterfinal. Bowling Green spent around $3.2 million on basketball last season, in the top half of the Mid American Conference.

Chris Victor, Seattle coach

Victor was named interim coach at Seattle shortly before the 2021-22 season, taking over a program coming off back-to-back losing seasons, and led the Redhawks to a 23-9 record. That was the most victories they had in their first 11 years in the WAC. He followed that up with another 20-win season and this year Seattle is 19-14 and will play in the College Basketball Invitational, though Redhawks have not played up a level or two much in non-conference games. Scary thought and something to consider: Seattle invests in basketball more than Fresno State ($4 million to $3.8 million) and is one of the better funded programs in the WAC.