Can Fresno State attract top basketball coaches to cash-strapped program? See our list

Fresno State in is in the market for a new basketball coach after parting ways with Justin Hutson on Thursday, when the Bulldogs had their season ended by Utah State at the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

The university will conduct a wide search for a successor, but it will be complicated by a number of factors including the financial state of a program that is well behind its Mountain West Conference peers in sport operations spending. Its budget would fit well in the Western Athletic Conference, but the Bulldogs are in the Mountain West, and at a severe financial disadvantage in a league that could put six teams into the NCAA Tournament.

Fresno State spent just $3.7 million on basketball in 2021-22, the most recent year financial data is available for every program in the Mountain West, and ranked ninth among the 10 public schools in the conference.

The league average, not including Fresno State, is around $4.7 million.

Athletics director Terry Tumey received a two-year contract extension last February with an option for a third year at the discretion of university president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval. The next coach will be taking on what could be the toughest job in the league with no guarantee who they will be working for in another 16 months.

Fresno State also doesn’t figure to break the bank for its next hire. Hutson received a five-year contract when hired in 2018, and had it extended after his first season. The base salary this season is $550,000, which ranks last in the conference. Three Mountain West coaches are paid more than $1 million a year - Brian Dutcher at San Diego State, Steve Alford at Nevada and Niko Medved at Colorado State.

Even so, Fresno State won’t lack candidates to become the 20th basketball coach in school history. Here are some coaches (in alphabetical order) who could gain some traction in the Bulldogs’ search process.

Byron Jones, Texas assistant

Jones was an assistant to Rodney Terry at Fresno State, which included a significant jump to the Mountain West from the WAC. They steadily built the program and in year five won 25 games and took the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 seasons. Jones understands the lack of resources built into the program and helped successfully navigate through them, which is something other candidates would have to learn on the job. He also has been an assistant through winning stints at Troy and at UNC Wilmington, when the Seahawks made two NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons.

Ryan Miller, Creighton assistant coach

Miller is regarded as one of the top recruiters in the country and has spent time in the Mountain West at UNLV and New Mexico. At UNLV in 2014 and 2015 he helped land recruiting classes that were ranked fifth and 11th in the nation. He also has spent time at TCU, Auburn, Pepperdine and Memphis. Miller is in his third season at Creighton. The Blue Jays made it to the NCAA Tournament in the first two of those seasons and likely will again on Selection Sunday. They have been ranked as high as No. 7 last season and No. 8 this season. Miller has coached on six teams that went to the NCAA Tournament, and won five league titles.

Andy Newman, Cal State Northridge coach

Newman, in his first season at Northridge, is intriguing. He was on the Bulldogs’ staff in 2002-03 when they won a Western Athletic Conference championship and had a highly-successful four-year run as a head coach at Division II Cal State San Bernardino that included three trips to the NCAA Tournament including a Final Four run in 2022-23. The Coyotes set a school scoring record and won 31 games that season. He took over a Northridge program that had 14 losing seasons in a row and in his first year led the Matadors to a 19-15 finish. That is the most wins Northridge has had in a season since its won 20 games in 2007-08.

Quincy Pondexter, Washington assistant coach

Pondexter just finished his third season as an assistant at his alma mater and lacks the coaching resume of the Bulldogs’ past two hires - Terry and Hutson were long-time assistants when hired at Fresno State. But the Fresno product could be a perfect fit given his community ties and NBA profile. A Pondexter hire could spur local donors and business to build an NIL program comparable to others in the Mountain West, boosting the Bulldogs’ potential on the recruiting trail. The lack of experience is a question mark, however, especially with an underfunded program.

Todd Simon, Bowling Green coach

Simon is a former assistant at UNLV and was interim coach in 2016 after coach Dave Rice was let go after an 0-3 start in conference play. Simon went 9-8, in an injury-riddled season. He then was hired at Southern Utah and in seven seasons won 20 or more games three times and took teams to the Collegeinsider postseason tournament, The Basketball Classic and the College Basketball Invitational. Simon, in his first season at Bowling Green, has the Falcons 20-12 after a win over Central Michigan in a MAC quarterfinal. Bowling Green spent around $3.2 million on basketball last season, in the top half of the Mid American Conference.