FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — A new Fresno State men’s basketball season tips off in less than a week, and the challenge to end a 10-year NCAA Tournament drought only gets tougher as the Bulldogs move into a tougher PAC-12 conference with fewer resources, due to a variety of unique circumstances:
Fresno State athletic director Garrett Klassy shared that “the sooner the Save Mart Center is paid off, the better off we are going to be financially.”
Of the 13 new players on the roster, five of them have played at the Division I level before – centers Bradey Henige (Cal Baptist) and Baye Fall (Arkansas/Kansas St/Rutgers), guard Ross Candelino (Wisconsin/Lipscomb), former ’24-25 Bulldog Brian Amuneke (Wichita St), and the uber-athletic 6’6″ wing Dragos Lungu (San Diego/UT Martin).
Head coach Vance Walberg oversaw a 6-win improvement between his first and second seasons at the helm. Yet, despite graduating only two seniors (Jake Heidbreder, Cameron Faas), there are zero minutes returning from last year’s team.
International additions Roger Fabrega (Spain) and Marko Vuckovic (Serbia) are expected to be significant contributors after playing professionally overseas. They continue a recent influx of global talent within Fresno State basketball after Wilson Jacques (France) and Gasper Kocevar (Slovenia) transferred out.
Highlights and takeaways from Fresno State’s preseason exhibition against Cal State Fullerton, plus what Vance Walberg said is the greatest challenge of coaching a team with 13 new players.
BYU transfer KJ Perry was the Bulldogs’ best offensive player in a 96-78 exhibition loss to Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 24. The 6’3″ combo guard made 8-of-16 shot attempts for 17 points, second only to Amuneke’s 19.
The regular season officially begins Nov. 2 against Division II Fresno Pacific at 7 p.m. Fresno State plays 9 of its 15 non-conference games at home – FPU, Georgia State (Nov. 10), UC Riverside (Nov. 14), Southern (Dec. 5), Cal State Northridge (Dec. 9), San Francisco (Dec. 12), Sacramento State (Dec. 19), UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 22), and Alabama State in a one-night-only return to Selland Arena (Nov. 20).
Beyond the two-game “Second Line Showcase” in New Orleans, Fresno State does not leave the state of California for its non-conference slate of UC San Diego, San Jose State, Santa Clara and UC Irvine.