Fresno State’s basketball coach almost was fired a year ago. Here’s the inside story

Fresno State was ready to fire basketball coach Justin Hutson last season, more than a year ago.

After some early success, the team’s on-court results were slipping. Recruiting and player retention had become an issue, with a long line of players having left the program. The university received notice from the NCAA about possible rules violations and other alleged misconduct by Hutson and his staff, stemming from a tip from an anonymous caller.

Hutson, who signed a five-year contract when first hired and received a one-year extension after his first season, also was heading into the final year of the deal.

A change would be costly for the university. Under terms of his contract, Hutson would be owed 80% of his salary, if not retained, about $440,000. Even so, there were reasons for the university to make a move.

Fresno State decided not to fire Hutson. Here’s why.

The day before the Mountain West Conference Tournament last March, attorneys representing the coach sent a letter to university president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval alleging racial discrimination against Hutson, who is Black, multiple university officials told The Fresno Bee. The letter implicitly threatened legal action against the university, said the sources, who requested anonymity because the school’s investigation into Hutson’s claim is still ongoing.

Fresno State, which in the mid-2000s paid out millions of dollars in high-profile Title IX discrimination cases brought by coaches and athletics administrators, took a cautious step back. Rather than fire Hutson the university initiated an investigation into his allegations, which, the sources said, revolve around a lack of financial resources for a basketball program that has fallen well behind in its conference.

The Bulldogs’ coach, meanwhile, went back to work as a lame duck. Hutson’s contract, worth $550,000 this year, expires on April 30.

Fresno State, which has dealt with injuries to key players the second half of the season, has fared no better this season than last. The Bulldogs ended the regular season on Saturday with an 86-47 loss to Wyoming and at 11-20 on the season, 4-14 and in ninth place in the 11-team conference. They have at least one game remaining, Wednesday against Wyoming at the conference Tournament in Las Vegas.

If the Bulldogs finish with just 11 wins for a second year in a row it will be the fewest in back–to-back seasons since 1986-87 and 1987-88 when the Bulldogs were 9-20 and 9-19.

FINANCIAL REALITY, OR RACIAL DISCRIMINATION?

Hutson declined to comment for this story, saying he would address his future after the conference tournament.

The university also would not comment on the letter or next steps for its basketball program: “Fresno State is fully committed to supporting a robust and competitive basketball program. We are unable to provide further comment at this time,” a university spokesperson said.

The university denied a public records request from The Fresno Bee for a copy of the letter alleging racial discrimination, citing its on-going investigation into the matter.

Building a case tied to racial animus or discrimination could be difficult for Hutson.

It’s true that the basketball program is woefully underfunded when compared to others in the Mountain West. Fresno State, which gets no share of parking, concessions sales, suite leases or sponsorship at the Save Mart Center, ranked ninth out of 10 in the Mountain West in basketball expenses and was last in basketball revenue in 2021-22, the most recent year financial data is available for every public school in the conference.

But those same financial realities are largely true for every one of the Bulldogs’ sports programs, not to mention three that were eliminated in 2020 to cut costs.

Even the Bulldogs’ football program, the economic driver for the athletics department, had its operating expenses cut by more than $3 million over a two-year period; down to $14.8 million in 2019-20 from $18.1 million in 2017-18.

Also, five players from the defunct women’s lacrosse team are suing the university and its top officials for allegedly violating Title IX by depriving women athletes of equal opportunities, financial aid and treatment. The five signed declarations, which are exhibits to that suit, detailing claimed inequalities among sports programs on campus including unequal staffing, team travel budgets and overall operational support. Among the programs they said received better treatment: Basketball.

And, while Fresno State has not kept pace with basketball spending in the Mountain West, on its campus, the sport has come through the COVID-19 pandemic better than most. Basketball operating expenses increased by $597,189 from 2019-20 to 2022-23, according to the financial reports the athletics department submits annually to the NCAA. That is the second largest gain coming out of the pandemic for any of the sports programs on the Fresno State campus, behind only football.

The Bulldogs’ women’s basketball program by comparison has had its operating expenses increase by $182,005 over that same time period, ninth among all sports.

WHAT’S COMES NEXT FOR BULLDOGS’ BASKETBALL?

Fresno State conducted an investigation into the anonymous tips made to the NCAA, which was completed in August.

The law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King, did not fully substantiate any of the allegations from the NCAA source.

It concluded: “The allegations made against the men’s basketball program appear to have little support from those closest to the program.”

The investigation into the claims of racial discrimination was still on-going when the basketball season started in November, and a university source said then that Hutson would finish the season.