Bulldogs’ Justin Hutson hired known commodity in Vonn Webb. How deal came together

Fresno State basketball coach Justin Hutson and Vonn Webb were out to dinner last week with a group of friends. They have known each other forever. They’re great friends. Webb even officiated Hutson’s wedding. “That’s how close we are,” Webb said.

But in those few hours together at dinner Hutson never once mentioned his coaching staff, or any potential movement or opportunities. That came later, after Tarvish Felton, the Bulldogs’ associate head coach, accepted a job at Mountain West Conference rival New Mexico.

“I didn’t have any idea that it was even going to go down or anything,” Webb said. “We had dinner and then two nights later he called and we’re having the conversation. He asked if I would be interested, because something was happening with his staff. I was like, ‘Wow. We just had dinner. It wasn’t even part of the conversation and then ...’

“The college game is so fluid. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Hutson and Webb knew what was coming next, though. The answer came quickly.

“About as long as it took him to ask me,” Webb said. “After we had the conversation, it wasn’t going to take me much to say that I was in. It’s a no-brainer for me. This is what I’ve dreamed of, many nights.”

The tricky timing aside, just a few weeks from the start of the fall semester, Hutson was able to rebuild a staff that had lost Tim Shelton to Oregon State and Felton to New Mexico and keep the Bulldogs moving forward. Despite modest support compared to Mountain West rivals, Hutson has 69 wins in his four seasons. That is more than any Fresno State coach at the start of a career since Boyd Grant won 79 games from 1978 to ‘81.

Hutson in June hired Nelson Hernandez to replace Shelton, and now Webb to replace Felton.

Webb has developed San Joaquin Valley talent

Webb was an assistant at Fresno State in the 2000s and had an .850 winning percentage in two stints over nine seasons at Washington Union High.

“Vonn and I have been good friends for a long time,” Hutson said. “When we had an opportunity to get him, it was a simple phone call. He’s somebody I always wanted on my staff, always wanted to work with and coach with.

“He’s a tremendous teacher of basketball and he will really help us on the floor. Then, the relationships that he has with the student-athletes and his ability to reach them … you know, a lot of people can instruct and understand basketball, but his ability to reach young men of that age is going to be a great asset for us.”

Webb has helped develop some of the top basketball talent to come out of the San Joaquin Valley including former Bulldogs guard Demetrius Porter and former NBA players Chris Jeffries and DeShawn Stevenson. He has experience at the college level as an assistant at Wyoming and UC Riverside, and is co-director of Jalen Green Elite, an AAU program hosted by former San Joaquin Memorial and Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green.

At Washington Union, Webb coached teams that won two CIF state championships, five section championships and seven league championships. He was the state coach of the year in 1997 and The Bee’s Central Section Coach of the Year three times, in 1996, ‘98 and ‘99.

“God is very good,” Webb said. “This is a blessing for me. It’s an opportunity and a blessing.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity to come back home and be a part of the program with Justin. Justin is one of the best people on this Earth that I know. He’s a heck of a coach. He’s a heck of a person. He runs a great program. I just feel blessed. I love Fresno, love the Valley. I spent I don’t know how many years there — 30 years, whatever it is, a long time. I’ve had a lot of success here, and this is a great opportunity.”