Men's Basketball Begins Exhibition Season

Nov. 11, 2002

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

What's Coming Up
Fresno State takes on the Central Valley All-Stars on Thursday in the season's first exhibition game. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Selland Arena. Some of the players on the CV All-Stars are former Bulldogs, including Demetrius Porter and Wil Hooker, who also coached for Fresno State from 1998-01.

What Just Happened
The Bulldogs took part in the Red/White Scrimmage, the first time the team had a chance to play in front of the public since Ray Lopes took over as coach. Damon Jackson scored 21 points while Jonathan Woods added 18 as the White Team defeated the Red 59-39 in a scrimmage consisting of two 15-minute halves. The team also took part in a three-point contest, won by Shantay Legans, and a slam dunk exhibition, won by Jackson.

The Ray Lopes Era Begins
Although the Bulldogs have been practicing for nearly a month, Wednesday will be the first opportunity the public has to view Fresno State and new head coach Ray Lopes in action. Lopes takes over after spending the last eight seasons as an assistant at the University of Oklahoma, where he helped build the Sooners into a powerhouse. OU played in the NCAA Tournament all eight years Lopes was there and reached the Final Four last season. Lopes has also spent time as an assistant at Washington State, UC Santa Barbara, Weber State and West Valley (Saratoga, Calif.) Junior College. He was named head coach April 3, 2002, three weeks after former coach Jerry Tarkanian announced his retirement after seven years at his alma mater.

Fuller Nearing 100 Percent
The injured hand of senior forward/center Hiram Fuller is getting better as each day passes. Fuller ruptured the tendon in his left ring finger two weeks ago but has been practicing the last week with a splint on his hand. He participated in last week's Red/White Scrimmage and will play in this week's exhibition against the Central Valley All-Stars. Fuller will have the splint removed prior to the season opener, for which he is expected to be 100 percent.

Who's Back?
Fresno State may have lost two players - Melvin Ely and Chris Jefferies - who went in the first round of the NBA Draft, but the cupboard isn't exactly bare. Six Bulldogs who were key components in last year's NIT squad return this year, including starters Damon Jackson, Travis DeManby and Noel Felix. Jackson is Fresno State's leading returning scorer at 11.9 per game, including a 16.2 average the last 10 games when he was forced to pick up the scoring slack in the absence of the injured Jefferies. DeManby, the only Bulldog to start all 34 games last year, will provide experience and leadership to the team as potentially the starting point guard. Felix, Hiram Fuller, Mustafa Al-Sayyad and Phil Rasmussen all made contributions in 2001-02 and will be counted on to do the same this season.

New Coaching Staff
Ray Lopes is not the only new face on the Bulldog coaching staff. Three new assistants and a new basketball operations coordinator have been hired, as well. Bob Burton, Lopes' former coach at West Valley Junior College, is one of the new assistants. Burton helped Lopes get his coaching career started in 1987 when Burton named him as his assistant. Burton was formerly the head coach at WVJC, where he turned the Vikings into one of the top JC teams in the state. Also named assistants were David Fizdale and Arturo Ormond. Fizdale was an assistant at San Diego while Ormond was at Centenary. Rounding out the staff is basketball operations coordinator Andy Newman, who had served as Burton's assistant at West Valley.

The Newcomers
Six new faces will be wearing Bulldog uniforms this year. Of those six, five come from the junior college ranks. Here is a quick look at each of the new Fresno State players:

Rolando Todd: A junior transfer from Garden City (Kan.) Community College, Todd originally submitted his name for entry into the NBA Draft but later reconsidered and withdrew. He is capable of playing either the one or two. Todd averaged 21 points per game last year for Garden City.
Renaldo Major: A junior transfer from South Plains (Levelland, Texas) College, Major averaged 13 points and eight rebounds last year after being selected all-conference his freshman season.
Jonathan Woods: A junior transfer from South Plains College, Woods was an all-conference honoree last year who averaged 16 points and five rebounds per contest. Known for having good basketball instincts, he creates matchup problems due to his good inside-outside game.
Terry Pettis: The only freshman on this year's team, Pettis led his Patrick Henry High School team to three consecutive state championships. The guard was also runner-up in the voting for Minnesota's Mr. Basketball. Pettis should help provide depth to the point guard position.
Shantay Legans: A senior transfer from California, Legans established himself as one of the top point guards in the Pac-10 in his Golden Bear career. He will sit out the 2002-03 season in compliance with NCAA transfer guidelines, but should step in next year and make an immediate impact.
Ashley Knowlton: A junior transfer from West Valley (Saratoga, Calif.), Knowlton injured his knee during preseason practice and will miss the entire 2002-03 season. He was expected to provide depth at the point guard position.

The 2002-03 Schedule
A schedule Ray Lopes says "should challenge us for WAC and potential postseason play," has been pieced together by the new coaching staff. Highlighting this year's ledger are non-conference road games at Washington State and Oklahoma State and home games against in-state rivals Santa Clara and Pacific. The Bulldogs will also be participating in Bracket Buster Saturday on Feb. 22. Fresno State's opponent will be announced Feb. 3. The idea of the game is to match top mid-major conference teams together just three weeks before Selection Sunday. The Bracket Buster name originates from the selected teams' success in the NCAA Tournament in recent years. The Bulldogs' first regular season game is Nov. 29 against Idaho State in the McCaffrey Classic.

Television Schedule
A total of 11 games are scheduled to be broadcast on KFRE WB 59 (cable 5) this year. The first contest on local TV is Fresno State's game in the McCaffrey Classic. One other home game, Jan. 1 against Tulsa, is on the docket. A non-conference road game against Oklahoma State on Dec. 15 is scheduled to be televised, as are WAC road games at Hawai'i, SMU, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, Boise State, San Jose State, Tulsa and Rice. Fresno State's WAC Tournament contests will also be featured on KFRE.

Curtain Falls on Selland Arena
With the Save Mart Center opening next year, the Bulldogs are in the 36th and final year playing in Selland Arena, the team's home since 1968. Fresno State has gone 392-135 (.744) at the venerable facility in downtown Fresno, including a 102-20 (.836) record over the past seven years. Selland Arena has hosted numerous NIT games and nationally ranked teams, but perhaps the greatest moment came in 2000, when the Bulldogs hosted and won the WAC Tournament, defeating 14th-ranked Tulsa in the championship game, causing fans to storm the court in delirium at the final buzzer. Fresno State will bring the Selland Arena Era to a close with its home finale March 1 against Nevada.

Last Year in Review
Fresno State's 2001-02 season came to a close with a loss in the NIT to Temple. After opening the season 7-1 and climbing as high as No. 16 in the national rankings, the Bulldogs' year quickly spiraled downward amidst suspensions and injuries. Point guard Chris Sandy and two-time WAC Player of the Year Melvin Ely were both slapped with six-game suspensions by the NCAA. Sandy also missed the entire first semester in an attempt to get eligible academically. Even worse, star forward Chris Jefferies missed the final 13 games of the season with a knee injury. These misfortunes combined to force the first four-game losing streak of Jerry Tarkanian's tenure while the team ended up 19-15, the first time Tarkanian did not win at least 20 games since becoming his alma mater's head coach in 1994.

Bowl Games and Basketball
This season, for only the second time in program history, Fresno State will play a game on New Year's Day. The January games against Tulsa and Rice were originally scheduled to be played on the road, but a Selland Arena scheduling conflict for the March return contests necessitated a flip-flop. Since Tulsa will be returning home to face Nevada on Jan. 4, an extra travel day is needed, meaning the Bulldogs will ring in 2003 at Selland Arena.

First-Year Coaches
Ray Lopes is the 16th head coach in the history of Fresno State men's basketball, currently entering its 80th year as a varsity sport. Three of the last five first-year coaches have come out of the blocks strong, with three - Ed Gregory, Boyd Grant and Jerry Tarkanian - all winning 20 games in their inaugural year. Eight of the 15 coaches began their first year with a winning record, including five of the last six. Following is a list of the Bulldogs' coaches and how they fared in their first season:

Coach           First Year     First Year Record   Overall Record (Yrs)Jerry Tarkanian   1995-96           22-11              153-80 (7)Gary Colson       1990-91           14-16               76-73 (5)Ron Adams         1986-87            9-20               43-62 (4)Boyd Grant        1977-78            21-6              194-74 (9)Ed Gregory        1965-66            21-8             172-142 (12)Harry Miller      1960-61           14-12               93-39 (5)Bill Vanderburgh  1954-55           11-13               89-63 (6)Clark Van Galder  1953-54           13-16               13-16 (1)Dutch Warmerdam   1948-49           14-16              55-107 (6)Pix Pierson       1942-43           6-6-1               6-6-1 (1)Hal Beatty        1939-40            8-11               49-57 (5)Stan Borleske     1934-35            12-8               43-61 (5)Leo A. Harris     1932-33             7-7                7-7 (1)J. Flint Hanner   1929-30            11-5               27-26 (4)Arthur W. Jones   1921-22*            6-5               70-53 (8)* First year program was in existence

McCaffrey Classic Coming Up
Fresno State's 24th annual tournament will kick off the Bulldogs' season. The McCaffrey Classic will feature Saint Mary's, Idaho State and Sam Houston State. The tournament kicks off Nov. 29 with SHSU and the Gaels tangling at 5:30 p.m. with the Bulldogs taking on ISU at 8 p.m. The consolation game is Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m. with the championship game following at 8 p.m. Fresno State has won six consecutive Classic titles.

Fresno State Athletics

Men's Basketball Begins Exhibition Season

Related News

Related Videos