Steve Cleveland was brought in as Fresno State Basketball coach 6 years ago to save the program--literally. Most insiders credit the hiring of Cleveland—his track record and reputation with the NCAA--as the critical factor that saved Fresno State basketball from the “death penalty.” Cleve needed the job like he needed a hole in his head. But Fresno represented a unique mission and Cleve knew he could make a difference. It was the "right" thing to do for his hometown.
Once the death penalty was averted, Fresno State’s “Upper Management” moved on and left Cleve alone, hand-cuffed with oppressive NCAA sanctions, to rebuild a clean program from scratch. Achieving his mission meant suspending key players at the most inopportune times, passing over easy recruits and struggling to build a talent pool despite limited scholarships. As if all that weren’t difficult enough, budgets were quietly being cut by the athletic department. Cleve never complained. Every day, in real ways, Cleve had to make discouraging choices calculated to build the program for the future at the expense of short term success on the court. With little fanfare, the program’s academic index went from a dismal 611 to an exemplary 928. Mission accomplished…? Apparently so. Now that NCAA restrictions are gone, Upper Management has come galloping back in to take the reins from here.
Bulldog fans have short memories. Some who led the charge to replace Cleve, including a young cadre of local sports journalists and AD Thomas Boeh, were all working in other markets during the Tarkanian/Lopes era when Fresno State basketball players were eating free sushi, shaving points, assaulting people with samurai swords and being indicted for murder. So, with change coming, it’s probably an appropriate time to consider a few lessons from Bulldog Hoop history….
Lesson One: the “Glory Days” of the Red Wave were back in the early 80’s when Boyd Grant won three PCAA championships and …(reverent hush)….led the Bulldogs to the 1983 NIT championship.
Lesson Two: Fresno State Basketball has a unique tendency to slouch into NCAA violations, outright cheating and other bizarre behavior.
Lesson Three: Even when Fresno State Basketball was operating as a virtual organized crime syndicate, there was still no consistent “on-court” success that would satisfy the more rabid segment of Fresno State fans.
With these lessons in mind, there is good reason to be wary. Despite the bungled manner in which Cleve was fired; including a dithering, week-long “death watch” that finally drove our best player to the NBA (So much for winning in the short term…); or the fact that Tarkanian, within hours of Cleve’s dismissal, was publicly endorsing an “ideal” potential candidate; what is most disconcerting is the growing sense that Fresno State leadership, and many fans, seem to view Cleveland’s tenure as less of a permanent restructuring; and more like a required prison term in “CleanHoopsVille” before hustling back to business as usual.
Boeh’s explanation for removing Cleve was to “re-energize the program” and “increase ticket sales.” That was exactly the justification used to push out Gary Colson and make room for Jerry Tarkanian. As a non-major program in a non-major conference--with scarce financial resources and a troubled compliance history--it will take a magician to achieve results that will satisfy Bulldog fans AND maintain the academic and compliance discipline of Cleveland’s program.
As a leadership decision, it seems incredibly naïve and risky to take a clean program--rebuilt at great cost--and hand it over to anyone but the surest, sure thing. Yet the first list of potential coaching candidates is comprised of untried assistants, formerly fired coaches and the head coach at…….Idaho?
Here’s a hunch: with time, history will smile kindly on Cleve’s tenure in Fresno.
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