Fresno State takes big chance, hiring Vance Walberg as basketball coach

Fresno State has hired Vance Walberg as its basketball coach, a high-risk move that could be a boon to a moribund program or backfire in spectacular fashion.

Walberg is well-known at every level of the game for his dribble drive motion offense and putting productive, high-scoring offenses on the floor.

But he was not among three candidates forwarded to university president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval by a campus search committee, according to multiple sources close to the search. Walberg, 67, has coached at Clovis West High for the past eight years. When he last was a head coach at the Division I level — at Pepperdine in 2007-08 — he resigned in the middle of the season amid allegations that he abused players and violated NCAA rules. He had a 14-35 record in a season and a half.

A news conference is scheduled for Friday.

John Watson, Pepperdine’s athletics director at that time, confirmed both allegations in a 2008 article in the Los Angeles Times on Walberg’s resignation. Watson said Walberg had made “mistakes in judgment” that included derogatory remarks toward players and making one player suck his thumb during a practice for “acting like a baby.”

Watson, in the Times story, called the actions “inappropriate,” but said that he did not feel they rose to a level of abuse and that Walberg was not facing disciplinary action from the university at the time he walked away for personal and family reasons.

Rico Tucker, a guard who was the Waves’ third-leading scorer in 2008, said Walberg and his coaching style were a volatile mix for what was a young team.

“It was challenging,” Tucker said. “I mean, he challenges you. I think we were better equipped for it back then, in that era. I think even for that time, it was a little old-school, for the stage that we were at (as a young team).

“I don’t want to throw him under the bus or make it seem like I’m a disgruntled player — I’m not. It’s been so long and played beyond college and I help with kids now so it’s not that I’m disgruntled or anything like that. I think the best way I can say it is we had a hard time because the coaching tactics were a little old-school for us then. …

“The climate is different. You can get older guys and transfers, so it might be a different scenario for him, in terms of that. But I know we struggled as a younger team.”

ATHLETICS DIRECTOR CONFIRMED ‘MISTAKES IN JUDGMENT’

Marvin Lea, who was a senior guard and the second-leading scorer on the 2007 Pepperdine team, confirmed the thumb-sucking incident occurred. But he blamed an assistant coach for it, and praised Walberg.

“He was hard-nosed and he was about basketball,” Lea said. “Basketball is basketball, and I come from where I’m all about basketball, too. It wasn’t Vance that was the problem, it was his buddy. He gave (the assistant) too much power. Vance was good. He was cool.”

The NCAA rules violations at Pepperdine were secondary in nature and included exceeding the number of allowable recruiting days, according to reports.

Watson, the athletics director, said in the Times story that Walberg resigned for personal and family reasons.

Among the immediate questions for Fresno State is how players in the transfer portal and high school and junior college ranks will respond to the hire. The school’s other finalist was Alabama assistant coach Ryan Pannone.

Seniors Isaiah Hill, Isaiah Pope, Leo Colimerio and Donavan Yap Jr. played their last games for the Bulldogs in a quarterfinal-round loss to Utah State in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, ending the season at 12-21.

Yap, along with guards Xavier DuSell and Isaac Taveres, Colimerio and center Enoch Boyake, are in the transfer portal.

Also, will the community respond to the hire? Interestingly, Fresno State has not received much of a bump the last three times it made a coaching change.

Steve Cleveland was hired in 2005 to clean up a program beset by academic and off-court issues and in his first season attendance at the Save Mart Center dipped by 12.1% from the previous season. Rodney Terry was hired in 2011 to replace Cleveland and in his first season attendance fell by 11.1%. Justin Hutson was hired in 2018 to replace Terry, who bolted for Texas-El Paso after winning 20-plus games three seasons in a row and four times in five seasons, and in his first season attendance dipped by 3.7%.

Will it be different under Walberg?

Fresno State last season drew an average of only 3,471 for its home games.

“I am thrilled to embark on this journey with Fresno State as the new head men’s basketball coach,” Walberg said in a statement released through the athletics department. “I am grateful to both Fresno State and president Jiménez-Sandoval for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity.

“I am committed to not only fostering a winning culture on the court but also to galvanizing the community around our program while supporting our student-athletes so they can thrive academically and athletically.”

Walberg, the 20th coach in school history, has coached in the NBA with stints as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings.

But most of his coaching career has been at the high school and junior college level. He coached at Clovis West from 1989 to 2002 before moving up to Fresno City College, where he went 133-11 with a state championship in 2005. He returned to Clovis West in 2016 after being fired by the Kings.

Walberg has a record of 559-104 in 21 seasons at Clovis West, with 18 league championships. His overall record at the prep level is 697-195, according to Central Section historian Bob Barnett.