The Argument Over Fresno State Basketball - Then and Now
Saturday, March 6th, 2010Basketball fans in Fresno seem to be divided between the state of the team from the decade starting in 1995 and what’s gone on during the past five years. Proponents of the former talk of the excitement and post season play, while people who favor the current program speak of the embarrassment the “winners” brought and how it’s handicapped the current staff - which hasn’t achieved the success on the court the paying customers expect.
I completely understand each side. Naturally, I’m prejudiced toward the Tarkanian administration (since I was part of it - as Director of Basketball Operations). What intrigues me is that there has to be a comparison at all.
Tark’s teams won - at the time, not as much as many fans had hoped (although that level of success would be welcome now), but there was certainly negative publicity that followed his teams. No one, including Jerry, wanted the bad stuff that accompanied the team. The anti-Tark faction screams that, because of his track record, what happened was inevitable. While they mean the problems, it would only be fair to mention that the winning was just as much a part of his MO. After all, if an argument is going to be made by these visionaries that trouble follows programs that Tark leads, success on the floor (and at the turnstiles) is just as predictable.
The Ray Lopes’ era followed and I was no longer involved with the program, but there was a WAC Championship (yea) - and more problems (boo), many much more serious in nature than those of his predecessor.
A local boy, Steve Cleveland, returned to Fresno State, after a successful stint at BYU, and people were excited. Cleve had grown up in Fresno, and had coached winners at Clovis West High School and Fresno City College. The program he took over was eventually put on NCAA probation and winning seasons have gone the way of the buffalo.
It seems that there are no Fresno State fans, only Tark fans or Cleveland fans. Because I know both of the coaches very well, what I find comical is that the two of them are close friends, each respectful of the other. There’s no doubt that Tark couldn’t build a program the way Steve has gone about it, nor would Cleve feel comfortable following Jerry’s formula. The most absurd part in this argument is that no one seems to be able to see each guy’s program as an entity in and of itself.
The Tarkanian backers answer their critics by saying the teams played great basketball, in front of packed houses and always went to the post season, which can’t be said of the current teams. Cleveland’s boosters say he was hamstrung from the get-go and nobody could expect a coach to produce a winner, inheriting the situation he did.
When Jerry took over the program, it had fallen on hard times, with fan apathy at peak levels. I doubt he told the administration they should expect winning teams who would create negative publicity. Similarly, when Cleve was interviewed, there’s no way that he would say he would clean up the program, but not to expect winning for the first five years.
When the fans of each bring up the other’s “record,” it does nothing to make the program stronger - only to make themselves feel better. Tarkanian’s people aren’t proud of the negative publicity that surrounded the program (although I can vouch, firsthand, that the scrutiny was a heckuva lot more intense than it was for any other program at Fresno State - before or since - in any sport). The meaning here is that no one at the university is lacking for skeletons.  Just as those who are behind Cleveland aren’t thrilled with his squads’ overall performances on the court.Â
Why not take the attitude that my friend, the departing coach (and incredibly perceptive) John Baxter said of the fans of Bulldog football:
“In this community, it’s got to be about the team. You got to show up because you love the ‘Dogs . . . We need to celebrate all of our wins and quit ripping at each other.”
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