Fresno State Athletics
1999-00 Men's Basketball Outlook
10/27/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 27, 1999
This could be the year.
For Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian, the 1999-00 season could be the year the Bulldogs get in the big dance. After four years at his alma mater, Tarkanian has guided the Bulldogs to four consecutive 20-win seasons, but each year came-up short of earning an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Four trips to the NIT, including a trip to the semifinals in 1998, are a nice consolation, but Tark knows his teams were capable of more. Fresno State has not been in the NCAA Tournament since the 1984 season and Tarkanian is far more familiar with the NCAA Tournament where he ranks sixth all-time in NCAA tournament victories (37) and has taken 16 teams to the NCAA Tournament s, including four Final Four appearances.
The reason for the optimism in the San JoaquinValley is the return of four starters from last season 's team that posted a 21-12 record. The Bulldogs are everyone's preseason favorite to win the WAC and have received Top 30 recognition by national publications, including Dick Vitale's College Basketball, which ranked Fresno State No. 20.
"I really like this team," said Tarkanian, who enters his 35th season of coaching college basketball. "I thought the team two years ago had the potential to be a Top 10 team but we had some off-court problems. While that team had more talent and potential, this year's team is a better team. We will have probably the best two-guard in the country (Courtney Alexander) and I think our wings as a whole can be very good. Offensively we are going to be a very good team. It remains to be seen how good we will be defensively. Our strength is in our returning players. We have four very good players who started for us last year."
Headlining the veterans is Alexander, one of the nation's best. Alexander made a difficult decision to return to Fresno State for his senior season instead of jumping to the NBA where he was a projected Top 15 selection. His decision was based on two goals. To earn his degree (he will graduate in December with an anthropology degree) and play in the NCAA Tournament. Alexander is coming off a year in which he averaged 21.4 points per game earned first team All-WAC honors in his first season with the Bulldogs.
No one on America was happier to see Alexander return to Fresno State than Tarkanian.
"Courtney could be the best player in the country," Tarkanian said. "He's probably the best offensive guard and I think he will be the best defensive guard in the nation. He has worked so hard on his game over the summer. I'm so proud of Courtney and the leadership he has shown. He came back for the right reasons. He wanted to graduate and he wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament. That says a lot about the kind of person Courtney is."
Alexander isn?t the only weapon in the Bulldog arsenal. Senior Terrance Roberson, one of Fresno State's all-time best three point shooters, returns for his fourth season. Roberson has averaged over 12 points per game in his career and has the potential to explode. Last season he scored 18 points or more seven times, including three games over 20 points. During a four-game stretch he notched his career-high of 28 points twice, including a magnificent performance against No. 25 New Mexico, in which he added five rebounds, three assists and four steals.
"I truly believe Terrance is going to have an outstanding year," Tarkanian said. "He's been outstanding at times during his career but for him to be a truly great player he needs more consistency. If Terrance plays with the same consistency every night he has a chance to be a really outstanding college player."
Senior forward Larry Abney is a workhorse for the Bulldogs. A 25-game starter last season, Abney averaged 6.2 points and a team-high seven rebounds per game. He played in all 34 games for Fresno State and led the team in field goal percentage, .559.
The fourth starter is junior center Melvin Ely. He started all but one game last season in the post and blossomed into the one of the best defensive centers in the WAC. He was selected to the WAC's All-Newcomer and All-Defensive teams after setting a Fresno State single-season record with 91 blocked shots. He averaged 11.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Ely's aggressive and physical style make him valuable even though he lacks the size of many "true" centers.
"Melvin is an outstanding player," said Tarkanian. "The one thing we don't have is any depth at center, but Melvin is a proven player and I think he is going to have a really good year."
Running the Bulldog offense will be Demetrius Porter. He steps in for Chris Herren, an NBA second-round draft choice of the Denver Nuggets. Porter, a junior from Washington Union High School in Fresno, Calif., is coming off a solid season in which he played in 33 games, starting seven. Porter led the team in three-point field goal percentage at 39% which ranked 11th on the Fresno State single season list. He also led the Bulldogs in free throw percentage at 80%. His 83 assists ranked second on the team.
"I think Demetrius will have a very good year for us," Tarkanian said. "He played a lot for us last year and did a good job. We have some excellent players to work with which will make his transition as the full-time starter much easier."
Tark is excited about some of the newcomers, including forward Noel Felix, a 6-9 freshman from Inglewood, Calif. Felix will give the Bulldogs size inside and Tarkanian expects him to improve with time. Two other players who will see their first action are Travis Robinson, a 6-6 forward from Durham, N.C., and Nick Irvin, a 6-1 guard from Chicago, Ill. Both players sat out last season to meet NCAA eligibility requirements. Robinson, a former high school preseason All-American, has great potential but must overcome sitting out last season. Irvin came to Fresno State with great high school numbers averaging 30 points per game.
"We don't have a lot of depth and we are not a big team," Tarkanian said. "But this is a special team that I think will play well together and have a chance to have a really good season."
The 1999-00 schedule does not feature some of the marquee names of the past two seasons, but Tarkanian is convinced this schedule is going to be difficult.
"This is a tough schedule," Tarkanian said. "We don't have any of the made for TV games that we've had the past with some marquee schools, but it's a good schedule.
Gone from the grueling non-conference are NCAA tournament teams Duke, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Miami (Ohio) and Temple. Also missing are former WAC members Utah and New Mexico, alsoNCAA tournament teams. Highlighting the non-conference schedule is a season-opening trip to Georgia State, where Tark and Lefty Driesell, GSU head's coach, will renew a battle of two coaches with more than 700 victories each. The Bulldogs will also participate in the Hawai'i Thanksgiving Classic with LSU, Wyoming, Southwest Missouri State, Toledo, Florida International, Oakland and Hawai'i Pacific. Most of non-conference schedule has a distinct California flavor with match-ups against Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Cal State Northridge and Pacific. Fresno State will also travel to Utah State and host High Point (N.C.). The annual Fresno State Classic will be played Dec. 21-22 at Selland Arena. The Bulldogs will host three teams from the East Coast, Cornell, Norfolk State and Wagner.
"I think the WAC from top to bottom will be better than the Mountain West ," Tarkanian said. "Other than Utah and maybe Wyoming, I don't see many teams from the Mountain West who could challenge the teams in the WAC. Tulsa is going to be good. Billy (Tubbs) thinks TCU is going to be much improved. SMU has all five starters returning. I think as a whole the WAC is much improved. I look for Hawai'i to be a much better team."
