Bulldogs

General Information

NCAA Division: Division I

Conference: Mountain West

Past Conferences: MWC, WAC, Big West, PCAA, Ind, WCAC, CBA

City: Fresno, California

Stadium: Save Mart Center

NCAA Tournaments: 1981, 1982, 1984, 2000*, 2001, 2016

*Indicates that their appearance was vacated by the NCAA

Championships:

• National Championships: 0
• Conference Titles: 5 

NCAAB Fresno State Bulldogs Team History

 After becoming a program, the Fresno Bulldogs men’s basketball team went through many conference changes. This includes playing in the California Basketball Association, the West Coast Athletic Conference, and Pacific Coast Athletic Association. For a program, Fresno State has experienced some lows but has remained in the middle of the pact for the most part.

Toward the middle of joining the PCAA, they caught wind of the program’s success. This is a huge step in the right direction as just a few years ago, the team was considered a non-major school for a year.

Coach Tiny Grant would bring the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in the 1980-81 season. Their season ended in heartbreak as they lost to the Northeastern Huskies by one possession in the opening round.

Achieving No. 4 Seed

However, the team would use this as a way to learn from their mistakes. In the following year, the Bulldogs were a fourth-seeded team in the West Region. Odds were the greatest this year, as this would be the school’s highest tournament seeding in its history. They would win a close one against the West Virginia Mountaineers before suffering a brutal defeat against the Georgetown Hoyas in the next round.

In addition, this is the only time the school ever reached the Sweet 16. In 1985, the team reached the Quarterfinals of the NIT after winning the NIT Championship the year before. After Grant left the program, the team wouldn’t make it to the dance for quite some time; however, they would have a few more runs in the NIT.

After years of waiting, Fresno State finally received the opportunity as a member of the Western Athletic Conference Season. Despite this, the team had an ineligible player on its roster, which put the school on probation after losing in the first round to the Wisconsin Badgers.

The program would get a shot the following year and make it past the first round. With a 26-7 regular season record, the Fresno State team stats showed that they were ready to play. Despite having a strong record, the Michigan State Spartans’ offensive and defensive schemes were too much to overcome in the second round.

The NCAA Tournament drought would return, but there were a couple of good events that still took place. Before getting drafted in 2010, Paul George would attend Fresno State. Despite being recruited by programs such as Georgetown, Penn State, San Diego State, and Pepperdine, the reasons why he liked the Bulldogs were because of the coaches, players, and campus.

Fresno State would make its last NCAA Tournament in 2016 as it resulted in a first-round exit against the Utah Utes. Justin Hutson will be entering his fourth season as head coach but faces some awful NCAAB odds to win the Mountain West Conference.

All-Time NCAAB Fresno State Bulldogs Records

Points Scored

• Marvelle Harris 2,031
• Melvin Ely 1,951
• Wilbert Hooker 1,739

Rebounds

• Melvin Ely 924
• Larry Abney 771
• Nate Grimes 742

Assists

• Kevin Bell 599
• Dominick Young 598
• Chris Herren 465

Steals

• Dominick Young 227
• Marvelle Harris 207
• Demetrius Porter 199

NCAAB Fresno State Bulldogs FAQs