New Fresno State Men's Basketball Head Coach Vance Walberg Press Conference - April 12, 2024 - The Bulldogs Basketball Hour

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
All right, So here we arethe introductory press conference, very excited about
Vans Wahlberg shortly taking the stage.CK here with Mark Q. Jones relive
at Fresno State for a new day, a new era. There's an energy,
there's an excitement in this building thatI haven't seen in quite some time.

(00:21):
When you look at a press conferencelike this and then you look around
this room, Mark Q. Jonesand the different people that you see that
you know have not been energized aboutthis program, and sometime what are your
thoughts? Well, c K,you bring up a very good point.
The last time I was in thisroom was when the Dogs made the NC
two A tournament, winning the MountainWest Championship Tournament championship in sixteen, and

(00:47):
it had this type of feeling,right it was the excitement was here,
and you see people that haven't beenaround the program who are voiced the disappointment
and where the program is going tohave the media here at full force.
I think that that is a greatstart to building something here, building,
you know, building a championship place. And I think Advance Wahlberg's gonna you

(01:08):
know, he's wanted this job fortwenty years, so I know he's excited
about getting this chance. I knowtwenty years ago he thought he had it
and he didn't. So you know, he goes to say that he just
kept going and age doesn't matter.If you got the knowledge, they'll give
you a shot. And I'm reallyinterested to hear what he has to say

(01:30):
about how he feels he can buildthis program in a new era, and
then of course to hear doctor PresidentSandoval's views on why he made this decision
and why he thinks why he thinksit will work. When I first heard
the announcement and I saw the listof candidates, I said, Okay,

(01:52):
Vance Wahlberg, I understand it.I see why it makes sense for certain
people in the valley. Even walkingin this room and feeling the energy,
I see why it makes sense forcertain people in this valley. But then
you have some people that they're gonnabe listening to this press conference today.

(02:13):
They're gonna be listening to Vance Wahlbergspeak, and they need to get sold
a little bit. They need tounderstand why the energy in the buzz in
this room is so exciting. Whatdoes Vance need to get up here today
and say to I'm not saying getpeople on his side, because that's not

(02:34):
gonna happen, because the proof isin the pudding after the season starts.
But to get people to go,you know what, I like what he's
talking about. I see what hewants to bring to the table, and
I believe that he's gonna be ableto make a difference right here for Fresno
State and the environment inside the SaveMarge Center. You know his personality,

(02:57):
you know, he's a known person, especially in the basketball circles of the
valley, right. Yes, Ithink you know when I look around the
room. Before d Buchannon's death,we became friends and he had talked quite
a bit to me about how hewas trying to build Clovis Unified years ago

(03:20):
and to make it a top notchprogram. And you kind of have that
that feel here former superintendent from ClovisUnified this year. Yeah, so you
see that real Clovis Unified vibe herethat you know that has had a lot
of success. So I think fromhis point of view, I think when
he walks in the room, Ithink he feels like he has that credibility

(03:42):
like you guys know me. You'veknown my product, You've heard about my
impact in basketball throughout the country andthe world. And you know there's going
to be skeptics in any situation,but I can tell you firsthand that he
can coach. So I think thatyou know, he's got a shot at
it. And I am really excitedto hear about who he's bringing in on

(04:05):
his staff and what type of playershe may be having. Let's talk about
that. Let's talk about the typeof players. Let's talk about what he
needs to change the environment of FresnoState basketball. Because the one thing that
I can say from being the guythat was on the court that was hyping
up the Save Mart Center and havinga good time and giving away pizzas and
getting the crowd fired up, Ienjoyed the blue collar mentality. I enjoyed

(04:31):
that they tried and they worked hard. But there were times when we would
be sitting back watching the game andit would instantly hit here we go again.
I know vance had to see that. I know you saw that we're
gonna bring in Paul Leffler, who'sin New Mexico. What do we need

(04:53):
to do to change this ship,to change the energy, to get the
Save Mart Center rocking again, andand to give the the five to five
nine, the valley, the typeof basketball that you know that's gonna make
people go, yes, let's doit well. Having a winning product.
It's big, right you talked aboutand when you give those pieches away,

(05:14):
you don't want to have five piechesgiven everybody in the stand something. You
got to fill that place up.We got to fill it out. Yeah
yeah, so uh. You knowthat players in today's game don't like to
just play defensive basketball. They wantto get out and they want to score
points. They want to shoot.So I'm interested to hear what kind of
basketball philosophy he's going to bring.I know it's going to be around his

(05:35):
his his normal stuff with the dribbledrive offense that they call it I and
if he can get the players,I think he'll get the excitement because for
the first time in his life.You know, Juco can be you know,
you got to get a kid,convince a kid to to you know
that they got to go to Jucoto play and all that kind of stuff.
But now with the collective, youcan almost pinpoint and if you've got

(05:59):
enoughing you're in your you can pinpointthe type of players you want to build
a team around, the program around, and I don't it's more of a
pro type of setting. Every year. It's a free agent market, yes,
so you can go out and tryto pick what you want. So
I think he has a chance tobring that brand here. The question for
every coach in America now is fromnow until November or December, can you

(06:23):
get your team to jail? Sothe guys are you know? You look
at Miami, the Hurricanes had ahuge collector, spent, spent a lot
of money, and they played poorly. It wasn't that they didn't have talent,
it was that it didn't work welltogether. So that's going to be
the new challenge. I think inthe days deal, if you got the
money, you can go out thereand get some good guys. But can

(06:43):
you get him to jail? Andthat's going to be one of his key
challenges. But if he has theright staff, and I believe he will,
that'll be a lot easier to accomplishthat. So we're about six minutes
away from Vans jumping on stage andwe're gonna bring you the press conference in
its entirety. Paul Leffler is inNew Mexico right now, joining US.

(07:06):
I know Paul desperately wanted to behere. I know he would love to
see this energy that's in this buildingright now, and I know it is
tearing him up that he's only gonnabe able to chime in from New Mexico.
But of course I gotta bring himin. I got to talk to
Paul and get Paul's thoughts about whatis gonna happen today, what we're gonna

(07:29):
hear from Vance, what doctor SaulHiman is son Deeval is going to let
us know, and just break downthe overall vibe of Bulldog basketball. Paul,
Well, guys, I'm glad tobe with you, the miracle of
technology here. Just got to doMexico and it's the beautiful sunny day.
I guess it's gonna be pretty windytonight for that baseball game at five o'closs

(07:50):
and the Dogs for their ninth straightwin. But yeah, sure, I'm
bumed to miss out on what's apretty significant moment, you know, a
long time coming, certainly for coachWahlberg, but I think a bold step
by Fresno State as well, becauseyou know, it's it's not a surprise
to anyone that there were a lotof other ideas of which way this could
go and what the direction would be. And obviously, doctor Sewelhemenez Sandoval made

(08:15):
a decision based on something really convincing. So I'm looking forward to hearing that
from him. What sold him right, what made him catch this vision,
and how can coach Wahlberg not justenergize the fan base, but also unite
the fan base. I think auniting tone and vision is really important.

(08:37):
It means to unite the fan base. That's what this press conference needs to
do. We need to understand thevision, the plan, the goal.
Because the one thing I will sayis there's a lot of people that are
genuinely excited about the Vance Wahlberg era, the Vance Wahlberg era, because I'm
seeing it, I'm feeling it.I've been in this room several time and

(09:00):
I've never felt the hype that I'mfeeling right now. So I know that
there's a lot of people that arerooting for Vance Wahlberg. But Paul,
I think you hit the nail onthe head right now. Bulldog basketball fans
are a little bit divided. Weneed to find a reason to be united,
and I think that hopefully we're goingto understand why President sold him in

(09:22):
his soundeval made his decision, andwe're going to see the same thing that
he saw from Vance Wahlberg today,Right. I think that's what you got
to hope for, and you guyswill see it. I'll just hear it
while I'm listening through this line.But that's what I am interested in.
How is it received in the room, How is the fan base going to
respond? What's the atmosphere and thesave Martin are going to become Because you

(09:46):
know, I've said for many yearsand Coach Q and I have talked about
it because we've seen it everywhere wego. When there's a great student section,
it's the great arena. It changesthe whole environment. And you know,
in looking at what he's had atClose West, they've had a phenomenal
student section. Maybe there are someof those people that have cheered for his
teams there that want to, youknow, get the student section rocking at

(10:07):
Presno State. But if you canstart there, I mean that would be
a baby step, but it wouldchange the atmosphere in the area and you
can really build from that point on. So I'd be interested in his thoughts
on that now. You're one hundredpercent right. It is about changing the
environment. And hopefully he can bringthat environment that we do see at Clovis
West, that we do see atso many schools in the track here to

(10:30):
the Save Mart Center. That wouldbe a fantastic thing. If you're telling
me that we can get a filledup student section, you fill up the
student section, you get the SaveMark Center rocking. And if he can
bring that energy that we've seen overthe last few years Mark at Clovis West.
And I understand that you're going froma high school to gymnasium to the

(10:52):
Save Mart Center, but that wouldbe something else. Well, Paul Blo,
I'm glad you made it safely.Brother. Hopefully Wind doesn't blow any
home runs out for the other teams. Oh, you know it will?
You know it? Will? Youknow? I think about coaches, you

(11:13):
know that have had success, thatnever have gone through failure, and then
when you hit a spot, itlets you recalibrate, We'll let you adjust.
And I think, you know,all great leaders have had times where
things in go great. So coachWahlberg's had that. You know, he's

(11:33):
been at Close Western one, FrednillCity one with the Pepperdiner was a tough
job, tough situation, so thatsometimes has you go through some things where
you reflect. He's been around theNBA where he wasn't the boss, right
because oftentimes coaches are. They're alwaysin the role of leadership. So you
know, you're the Boston High School, Boston College, Junior College, Boston
four year and then you go andwork for other folks and you could get

(11:56):
a different perspective and then all ofa sudden, you know you're more complete.
So I think coach Walberg has definitelyhad this this growth pattern and he's
one of this forever. As thepresident and ad and everybody else is walking
in, everybody's standing up. Wesalute him, you know, I mean
everyone's standing up. Everyone's giving hima standing ovation. As he walks in
the room, there's a nice littlehush amongst the crowd, and everyone's excited

(12:20):
to hear what's going to be saidtoday. We're moments away from them actually
taking the podium, sitting down,getting on stage and getting everything underway.
There's Van Stare along with the president. It's a big moment, mark very
big moment determines the future of FresnoState basketball. President, good to see

(12:41):
you in an all around time too, and Coach Walberg walks by with a
big smile and the fishbump for us. There he is, there, he
is. So it looks like we'rejust seconds away from President Doctor so him
and his son de Aal beginning theintroductory press conference for Vance. Good morning,

(13:09):
Good morning, Welcome to President ofState in the Josephine Theater. My
name is Robert Akuno. I'm thedeputy director of Athletics and currently serving as
the introim director here today. We'repleased to have members of the media,
the Walberg family, and as youcan see, many many supporters and staff
here to welcome our new head coach. Soon you'll be hearing from our President,

(13:31):
doctor shum All, followed by ournew head men's basketball coach, Vance
Walberg. Once they are done withtheir comments, we will open up to
the media and Frank Pucher and JoshMitchell, who I think most of the
media knows, will open up toyou to ask questions. And so,

(13:52):
without further Ado, Doctor camenis Sandal, Thank you, Rob, and thank
you all for being here. Thischaracterizes our community. We come together in
a significant way and we cheer foreach other. So I truly, truly
thank you for being here. Today'sa great day to be a Bulldog.

(14:16):
We are here to officially celebrate theappointment of Vans Wahlberg, the twentieth head
Meant basketball coach at Frison State.Run of applause, please. There are

(14:39):
two main pillars that I see thatreally characterize Coach Wahlburg. On the one
hand, he has an impressive careerwithin the valley and across the US as
well. He's highly respected as abasketball coach and as a visionary for basketball.
That's one pillar. The second pillar, it's his passion for Fresnol State.

(15:01):
It's his passion for the valleys,his passion for our community, and
it's how he's going to revolutionize presidentState basketball from this point on. Within
these two pillars, then crowded init all at the top, it is
his commitment to excellence and his commitmentto our students as well. It is
the student experience that's at the heartof all of this, which represents our

(15:24):
region to the world, which representsour valley in a way that is dignified.
With this high octan basketball, that'swhat we'll be seeing with him so
he's focused on forging our students asleaders within the court and then outside the
court. Whom do they become afterthey graduate? They become ambassadors for Fresnol

(15:46):
State, specifically for our entire university. He is a valley native, having
graduated from Kelsate Bakersfield, our sisteruniversity to the south, and he of
course also played himself as he himselfplayed basketball as well. So with that,
I want to give coach a hugewelcome to President State. Please run

(16:08):
over plus for him. Thank you. Wow. I hope this thing works.

(16:41):
First of all, I appreciate everybodycoming here and this is really really
impressive, and I thank you.I really got to thank President and then
the Santa Ball for giving me thisopportunity. I think a lot of you
know, it's been such a bigdream of mine through the years, being
here in the valley, being heresince nineteen eighty nine, watching basketball grow

(17:03):
in this area. I'm super excited. I'm very blessed. I really think,
thank you, I really really dovery fortunate. God's blessed me in
a lot of different ways. Thoseof you that know me, I think,
you know, there's probably so Isaid, there's two pillars probably two
pillars for me. One is family, uh, and that's really really important

(17:27):
to me, my own family,and then my basketball family, and then
those of you that really know me. I think you know, basketball is
a big, big part of mylife. I'm kind of one of those
guys who just lives in the gym, loves to be in shorts, just
do my own thing that I loveto do. And I'm really happy to
be here to be able to dothat at Present State. I really want

(17:48):
to thank all my former players,my former coaches, my fellow coaches,
all the people that I've competed againstin the valley and throughout my years.
They've helped me become who I am, become where I've gotten to because of
that, and I really really appreciatethat. My goal is like anything else,

(18:11):
I think those that know me,I hate to lose. I can't
sleep at night thinking about it,you know, all those different things.
I want to bring Fristonal State basketballto the top of Mountain West Conference.
I want to get us into theplayoffs and and be successful, and I
think you know I'm going to dooh I can to do that. I
want to get that spirit. Iwant to get that red wave going again.

(18:33):
I want to see se Martin Aenaget to the get to the place
to where it's such a great crowdin there like the old days when Tark
used to be here at Selln Arena. I want to really reach out to
the former Bulldog alumni and all theboosters there to really be able to sit
down meet with you. I wantyou to know that my door will always
be open, and I would loveto have any of the Bulldog alumni come

(18:57):
back visit us, talk to ourformer play or talk to our current players
and give their experience. My dooris always going to be open for that.
This week, I've had a greatopportunity to talk with a lot of
the players, the current players rightnow. I think a lot you know,
some of them are in the portal. Been talking to them and trying
to convince some of them come back, and I thought the talks have been

(19:21):
great. A lot of them are, I think, are very excited with
the way we're going to play basketball. I think you're going to really enjoy
the style that we're going to play. And I'm hoping that you know,
through that this week and next weekwe can finalize some of those players pulling
themselves out of the portal coming backfor us. My assistant coaches have been
working really, really hard. Idon't know if you know this. Three

(19:45):
weeks before I got the job.Four weeks before I got the job,
I was planning ahead and I hadsome coaches that didn't know that they were
if I got the job. Theydid not know if they were going to,
you know, if things didn't workout right. They gave me three
four weeks of their time dedication.We were working on the portal, working
on the you know, I hadsome of them at the National JUCO Championships

(20:07):
try and scout different players. Sothis isn't something that just happened. This
is something that really I've been workingon for a long long time. I
think you know, the game haschanged the NIA on the portal a completely
different style and different way from whatit used to be. It's exciting in
one aspect, it's challenging in another. Obviously, I'm gonna really need the

(20:29):
support I've been blessed with. I'vehad a team of some really good community
members. I've been helping myself raisesome money for the NIL. They know
what we got to do, andwe're always looking for more, which I'll
be out there. I really thinkyou're going to enjoy the style we play.
It's gonna be a fast paced,pretty good pressure on the ball,

(20:52):
just the way I love to play. I think you're going to really like
it. I know previous teams havereally liked it. You're going to see
players are just gonna work their tailoff. They're gonna have a great work
ethic out there. You're gonna bevery proud of our student athletes. One
thing I will say, going backto the current student athletes right now,
when I had a chance to meetthem this week, there was one thing

(21:14):
that stood out to me the mostis just how respectful and how good of
young men they were. Very itwas very amazing to see just the way
they handle themselves. When I wastalking with them each for a half hour,
I was very very impressed with them, really really enjoyed talking with them.
I want to get back to thatGreen Be brand, that Pat Hill,

(21:37):
you know with Coach Hill, thatstarted a long time ago. You're
gonna see me throughout the valley,not only here but in Fresno, but
up and down the whole valley.We've got to be able to get that
excitement back, get all the peoplefrom you tell me, you know,
from Bakersfield to Mercell Modesto, getthem all involved here. And then lastly,

(21:59):
you know, I always do this, you know, whatever I do
it, I always forget to thankmy family and my wife. So I
will not I will not forget themthis time. It's been it's been a
long journey. You're gonna see thatwith me, it's hard. A lot
of people will say, my heart, you know what, and I am.
I will push my players to thelimits because I want them to get

(22:22):
the best they can out of them. When I was with George Carl Hall
of Fame coach, George always talkedabout the basketball guys and he always says,
if you do things right, youtreat the game right, it'll treat
you bad right. And I'm areal big believer of that. You know,

(22:44):
there are stretches through my career.You know, I've been very successful,
went down to Pepperdine, not verysuccessful, went to UMass as an
assistant. Then I decided to givethe NBA a try, and I don't
think a lot of people realize.During that time, my wife and I'm
sorry about this, but it's emotionalfor me, gave me the opportunity.

(23:10):
You can think I'm fifty five atthe time. I said, hey,
babe, I want to try theNBA. She looks at me. Okay,
what's that mean. So John Welch, who is one of my assistants
here, who was a very closefriend, gave me said hey, come
on over here. Did it fornothing once there for the Denver Nuggets my

(23:33):
first year, didn't get paid apenny, rented an apartment twenty minutes away
from the arena, slept on anarrow bed at a table just like this
for my dinner table. She stayedback in Massachusetts for two years. Why
I was with the Nuggets. Gaveme that opportunity and kind of opened the

(23:55):
door for me to do other things. About once a month, twice a
month she would fly out. Andpeople don't realize doing that for too much.
So you're never gonna make it inthis business if you don't have a
great family and you don't have thatgreat supporter. And I definitely have that.
And then again, thank you.I really appreciate it that you give
me the apportunity. Hey asked,good to see you again. I just

(24:49):
want to ask you, why haveyou coveted this job for as long as
you have, like almost two decades. What what about it when you live
in the valley and you're here firston stae is everything? You know,
the basketball, the football, youknow, you talk about all different programs.
You know, we don't have apro sport. This is everybody's main

(25:11):
focus. And for me, youknow, I was hoping one day to
be able to get that, andreally after the last time, I never
thought what happened. So for thisdream to come true, it's actually been
amazing. But it's just to me, it's a diamond. Rupt it's something
I think that you can really makeinto a special place, and I know
that people here are just dying forreally good basketball and excitement. You alluded

(25:33):
to it in your answer, Butdid you ever think that, you know,
given your age and you know,coaching high school, that you wouldn't
get an opportunity to coach like thisagain at Division one. You're probably I'm
not gonna say that. I meanagain, you know, you're right.
I many people are gonna have confidencein a sixty seven year old high school

(25:55):
coach, But if you really peelit back, it's a little different from
that. You know, how manypeople have been able to create an offense,
how may people have been able towork with NBA teams and so forth.
So I'm a little bit more differentthan a high school in that.
But no, I'm very like Isaid, very honored and very pleased with
our president coach over here. Obviouslybeing in the high school scene for as

(26:21):
long as you have in this area, what are your plans to recruit locally
and have you had any conversations aboutsome of the guys that you've played against
recently that you would like to befuture Bulldogs. I gotta watch what I
say. Remember, I'm still learningall their compliance rules. Is Steve Reid
here? Where Steve? They're Steve? Okay, okay, Steve. Now,

(26:42):
No, obviously I want to We'rein the process right now. You
know, Uh, there's a I'mnot going to say names, but there's
some players you know that are incollege basketball right now that have reached out
and so forth, that are inthe portal and so forth. So we're
in that process right now. Yes, I definitely want to, uh definitely

(27:04):
want to take care of our valleykids. And obviously, you know,
playing at a high level will getfans to the games and to support this
program. But what are some otherways that you're hoping to get people to
the State Art Center. Well,the best way for it, honestly is
for me to get out there andbuild a foundation from the ground up.
It's kind of like what I didat Clovis West. I mean, people
that know me at Clovis West,they know what time they get there in

(27:26):
the morning, what time I leaveat night. It's just you're building the
whole thing now instead of just onelittle area. I'm doing it in the
whole area. You know. Iwant to build that Bulldog foundation, you
know. I want to get youknow, everything that we can that you
know, from one area of thevalley to the next. And I think
that's what's going to bring it.Stephen Sanchez, do you Wire Magazine?

(27:49):
What I want to ask you wasyou see You're been established for doing an
I'll tackle offense and everything else.So I was wondering what this vangor for
a year? Are you ready Iwant to implement that into your first year
or are you going to try toassess the talent that you got as of
right now and try to develop aplaybook pro around film The talent that you
have as now. Very good question. I know my first year at Pepperdine,

(28:11):
I try to put the offense,the defense, and the full court
press in all one time, andI found it was too much. So
I'm definitely gonna have a pressure defense, full court press that's gonna be in
bits and pieces until i can reallysee what we have. But again,
some of the players that we're lookingat right now are looking like they're really
going to be a lot more beneficialin the uptempo pressure type. So you're

(28:34):
right, I'm going to see howwe assess the players. Then we go
from there, speaking other players again. First year and everything deal with an
il transfer, floral and everything else. One type of strategies are you going
to implement? It not only tryto bring up kids into the program,
but it's also one that have instage within the program as well. That's
the big challenge. Also, noware you recruiting every year, you're recruiting

(28:56):
your own players. You know,you got to make sure you take care
of the make sure that they knowthat you care and that you love them
and that they will stay with you. And I'll be honest with you,
if we do our job, We'regonna lose some players. I mean,
if you take a player a takeand get them to a level where he's
all the way up here, somebody'sgonna snatch him and say, hey,
there's this much more money for youif you come our way. So it's

(29:19):
it's gonna be a give and take. You're gonna find that out. And
then the other key is for meto find players that are here that are
hungry and we want to bring themin and get them to this level.
So it's gonna be that combination.I'll be honest with you. I work
much better with players that really lovethe game and want to get better.
Those are the type of players thatI want to have out there, so
let me So. My next questionwas that in terms of all the express

(29:41):
that you had coaching some of them, and all the players that you've had
at every local high school, college, pro and now here as a Bulldog,
what's the front in your opinion,how do you describe that advanced Baulberg
employer, loves the game, wantsto be in the gym, great representative
of your school. That's what Ilike. Coach Scupimus over here, congratulations,

(30:03):
thank you. You know the narrativewill be right. You know,
you kind of alluded to it maybeon the national scene about the high school
coach getting hired, right, weknow that that runs deeper than that,
like you talked about. But I'mcurious, is there something about coaching at
the high school level or the juniorcollege level that you think gives you an
advantage at this level? Scott?But you know what's funny, because I've

(30:26):
been, like you said, fromhigh school to junior college Division one to
NBA back to high school. Inreality, if you want to know the
truth now, the way the portaland nil is it's almost like coaching junior
college because you're gonna have the kidsfor a year or two years. If
you get them for more than twoyears, that kid really loves you,
or maybe he's not as good ashe is and you're stuck with him.

(30:51):
You know, It's could be oneof those combinations because if we do our
job, they're all gonna want tomove on and so forth. But honestly,
it's it's gonna be a lot likethat coach and juco And is there
any kind of learning curve for you? I know, not with the basketball
sense, but just with everything elseassociated with Division I basketball? Right now?
What's that going to be like?You think? It's definitely always going

(31:12):
to be a learning curve anytime youstep into any tag type of job.
You know, for me, yesit. You know, this morning I
talked to one of our film guys, and you know, his job is
to have all Mountain West teams,all the film for me ready to go
in about four weeks. That's whatI'll be next four weeks. I don't

(31:33):
have time, but that's what I'llbe looking at during that time. There.
It's gonna be a learning curve.Coach, congratulations. I don't have
a basketball question, but I doknow you can coach, so I can
ask doctor Sandipald, what did yousee about coach Wahlberg that said this is
the guy for the valley. WhatI saw with the coach was this incredible,
deep seated passion and love for ourvalley. And I saw this thirst

(31:57):
and this hunger for excellence that hewanted to contribute to Presdo State as well.
But alongside with that, I sawhow he clearly sees the student athlete
in a holistic aspect. We don'twant to just create incredible basketball players,
we want to create leaders for thefuture who are grounding themselves in their own

(32:22):
history and are able then to visualizewhat the future holds for them as contributors
to society. So I saw thewhole package with the coach. Thank you,
coach Jackson Moore. Nice to meetyou. Congratulations growing up here,

(32:45):
got to learn your system as ayoung basketball player. And I'm curious,
how does it change when you're ableto recruit seven footers and wings with a
lot of height and length that don'tnecessarily just throw up at Clovis Unified schools.
I don't think it changed is thatmuch. It just makes it more
exciting. I mean, let youadvance the game the way you'd like to
instead of catching the ball. Hereit's above and it's going down. You

(33:07):
know, you're watching athletes just flow. You know. I'm excited to be
able to work with some of ourplayers just to see let them And that's
the beauty of what we do isI really put the ball on my player's
hands. I let them. Weteach them the basics, We teach them
how to play. We don't teachthem how to run plays and let them
take and take full advantage of whattheir ability is. Give you already man

(33:31):
like you, Like I said,in high school, college pro you spent
a lot a lot of programs fromwhat you've seen, honestly, having coached
your pallongs on the scene, youknow the bulldog programs from growth. How
do you compare this program compared tothe other one in the country, this
program too, what other one?All the programs out of the country from
what do you see at the collegelevel and stuff like that. So how

(33:52):
do you compare this one in termsof coaching and terms of style and playing
stuff like that? Well, Ithink every time you come into a program,
you're gonna you're gonna put your stampon it. And then that's the
thing that I want to be ableto do is put Freshment State on the
map with the exciting style that we'regoing to play. You know, everybody,
you know, that's the beauty ofbasketball. Everybody has their own style,

(34:12):
and our style is going to bedifferent from other people, and I
think people are going to really enjoythe style that we're going to play.
You have money in hands right now, what do you have in your pocket?

(34:37):
I have a really good team that'sbeen working on this and it's a
combination of both Yes, there's nodoubt you're not going to make it in
this in this new environment without havinggood nil support needs to make up.
We're gonna get after. We're gonnaWe're gonna make There may be a deficit

(35:00):
now, but it's not gonna stopus. I got a team. I
think we're gonna catch up to alot of them. Coach Doc Lewis k
Fsor. My question is if we'regonna bring uh, do we have a
good marketing in place to bring folksto uh the sat Mark Center, Uh,

(35:22):
to bring the fans out to getthem here uh? And uh.
My second question is the running gun. You're gonna be running and gunning and
that's the that's the style of play. First question marketing. I do have
some very good people helping us withthat. But again, I the best

(35:42):
market is going to be the typeof kids we bring in, the style
we play. And then working fromthe ground up with all the different communities.
I think that's the biggest thing,because what you want to do is
you want to if I can buildthat ground up from all the communities throughout
this sex throughout the valley, thenthey're gonna be there there. I see
the excitement, and that's what Iwant to be able to do. The
running gun we just called the dribbledry. You know, we're gonna find

(36:07):
our shots, we're gonna get We'regonna be like I said, put the
ball in our best players hands,let them create, and we'll go from
there. But it is a soutthat coach. Can you take us through
some of the additions to your staffand who will be joining you and who
you've already added so far? Okay, I do have one staff, remember
back from last year, Nate.They are d ops. I've heard tremendous

(36:30):
things about Nate. Nate where I'mhere, he's back there. Uh.
I learned a long time ago.You better have somebody to get you around.
So tell me a story about firstname. Okay, my kids will

(36:57):
tell you straight up. I'm notthe best in directions, far from it.
But still so you talking about boof. So I made the first round,
got the second round. Now I'msupposed to meet president. I'm in
the center ball and get the thing. And I look at my paper and

(37:22):
it says you see it, youknow Marriott on Shawl. So I'm they
are twenty minutes early. No problemwaiting in. I go at three twenty
five, going say three twenty five, nobody's there. I'm looking around and
I called Steve read Steve, whereare You're at the wrong Marriott. And

(37:46):
it was the longest fifteen minutes ofmy life. The upper boy from one
marriout to the other. So Iwalked in. I mean, my hand
still hurts a little bit from hittingthe the door, and I shook as
its hand. I said, Iguess I'm down ten or two to go.

(38:06):
But here we go, you know. But so having Nate's gonna help
me a lot. Okay, onecoach I really want. It's a super
good friend of mine. His nameis John Welch. John, where are
you? John's back there? Johnwas here when coach Tark was here.

(38:36):
The first time I met John.Then basketball Benny. We used to play
hooping right by backyard. All thetime we'd be in my gym. We
would play a ton loves the game. It's a lot like myself went from
college. Was twenty years in theNBA. One of the best workout coaches,
one of the best basketball minds.Just loves the game. He's gonna

(38:59):
be a we had addition, hewas at Kentucky this last year with coach
cal and I was lucky enough tobe able to bring him this way.
So I'm really pleased, Thank youJohn so much. We have a Ray
Barefield, back to Marfield, Backto Ray. Ray is a local.

(39:23):
Ray was Hoover High back in Ithink was eighty eight eighty nine. Ray
was at eighty eight eighty nine,went on and played college basketball, very
successful, knows the Southern section,knows the whole actually the whole West Coast
with recruiting. He's going to bevery really good for us, and I
appreciate having Ray also added back there. Jared, Jared, raise your hand,

(39:50):
Okay, Jen Harris. He's comingfrom New Mexico State. He was
one of the ones who gave fourweeks weeks before I even got the job
and said, coach, I believein you, and did a lot of
thanks him and Chris Stahowski, andChris is not here today. Chris de
Houski was a former player of mine, a JUCO coach and so forth,

(40:13):
and those two, like I said, for four weeks went around did a
lot of different scouting and recruiting forme in case I did get the job,
and I really appreciate that. Andthen I'm also gonna bring john Son,
Riley Welch. Roddy's gonna be avolunteer with us, helping us,
and I'm excited that way, We'regonna have a really good staff. Hey,

(40:35):
Coach Walburg ceedt next from ABC thirty, Congratulations. My one question.
You mentioned coach Tarkaney, and Ithink a lot of people in this room
remember those full celling arenas. Butfor someone who was coaching down the street,
what do you think led to thatsuccess of having the community come out
like that. Tark was tark youknow, the way he was two on
that tower. People just loved himwherever he would walk, you know.

(40:55):
You know he came to Fresl's tatewith the national championship, so I mean
he was very impressive, but justthe way he was, you know,
and he just just honestly, itdidn't matter where he was, but he
did. He just loved coaching basketball. You know. He was a Samuel
King Memorial guy and so forth.And for me, honestly, I would
love to see the same I loveto see that same energy, you know,
fill up the save Barnaby and getthat going. Thank you. High

(41:22):
coach Alexis, congratulations. You justmentioned a lot of the staff that will
be on your team this upcoming season. Is there something you specifically looked in
in these people, a certain amountof experience or a certain playing style that
you wanted to be able to supportyou next season. Well, first one
is always gonna be the most important. Is gonna be loyalty. I've learned

(41:43):
that a long time ago. Iwant I want staff members that one aren't
going to be super low to myselfand to the school, and two that
just have a passion of wanting toour players to make them better and to
try and make our Fresno State basketballcommunity the best they can. And I
think, I really, uh,we have a really good group of young
men are doing that. And it'sone that obviously you have manufactured. I

(42:08):
think it's used because it gives yourplayers the best opportunity for them to showcase
what they have. Again, likeI said earlier, I want you know,
we're gonna work hard in practice,They're gonna learn a lot of different
things. I'll stop and in practiceand work and teach them the way that
I want the game to be played. But when the game begins, I
tell them. I don't want themlooking over to me. What do I

(42:30):
do. They're the ones who noware in control, and they're the ones
we're gonna be able to make theplay. So think about it. If
you're a player and you want togo to a certain school and they're gonna
say be here, run this spot, run this, go that, or
if you can take you get tothe records, you're shooter be able to
get your shots. I think Iwould rather come them away. Thank you

(43:01):
everybody, Thank you so much.So we're gonna sit down. We're gonna

(43:22):
finally have an opportunity to talk tothe President, and we're also gonna have
the opportunity to talk to Vance.We're gonna take a quick break and we're
gonna come back to the introductory pressconference right here at Fresno State c K
Mark Q Jones and of course PaulLeffler from New Mexico. What a very
exciting press conference that was. CK Mark Q Jones. Paul Leffler,

(43:46):
who's in New Mexico right now,we should be able to hear him.
We're being joined by doctor Saul himand Ensandoval, which it's a pleasure to
have you here and I thought Mark'squestion was very appropriate and right on time.
But I will say this before westart talking to you. Sure,
yeah, looking at the energy that'sin this building, looking at some of

(44:06):
the former Frisnal State players that arehere in attendance, Looking at the way
the supporters of Vance Walbert showed uptoday and represented what that man is about.
When we talk about the Central Valleyand we talk about bringing Pat Hills
style energy to the Save Mark Center, I think I see the vision now.

(44:30):
I want to know in your mindand just tell the world. The
committee says, Hey, this iswhat we're thinking. You say I like
Vance, Tell the world why youlike Vance and why we're going to fall
in love with him. I thinkwe were all really focused on getting the
best possible coach for our university,for the valley. This is not just

(44:53):
you know about the preside said,this is really about the bigger issue,
the bigger representation of who we areas a community to the rest of the
world. And when the committee comestogether, there was a lot of really
deep passion for seeing the next levelof excellence of Fresno State. How do
we get that high octen energy basketballflossing through the cord, this instinctual notion

(45:22):
of basketball writing which I throw theball at you and you throw it back
at me by instinct, not bythought. And I saw that in the
coach and I saw behind that aswell, this incredible support from the community
as well. And as you know, when the community is on board,

(45:42):
the energy is different in the saveour center. Our players feed off of
the crowd who's at the same marCenter. If we have a student section,
I want that student section to bepacked with our or with our students,
just like football has it. Rightwith football, we have seen that.
You know, the average last yearwas thirty eight thousand people in the

(46:04):
stadium. That's what we want.We won thirty eight thousand people at the
same Marceta, just like we havehim in bald Children's Stadium. So what
I saw in coach Wahlberg was thisincredible, unabashed, unique, just genuine
passion for Fresno State and for theregion, for the region. And then

(46:24):
the second part of it was Isaw how he creates leaders in the court
that then impact society after they graduate. He cares for the student first and
foremost, what are your dreams,your specific dreams. He harbors that very
strongly, and then he builds onthat to really make them strong, powerful

(46:47):
athletes and leaders at the same time. So the combination of these two,
to me was just really impressive.I was able to see that behind the
psychology of basketball was a man whoreally passionately saw the possibilities of going the
next level off as they'll say,bastball. Well, I don't know if

(47:08):
Paul still in the line, butPaul, do you have a question for
the president? Well, sure,doctor Jimenez Sandoval. I can feel the
energy, even though I'm in Albuquerque. I could hear the buzz in the
room, and I could hear,I think, in your voice, speak
enough, Yeah, it sounds likeit. I could hear how excited you
were that this wasn't something where youwere picking, you know, the best

(47:32):
of a lousy group of candidates.You really believe that this is a high
caliber candidate. And that's what Iwas hoping to hear. And I think
the fans heard it from you iswhy he sold you. And I'm wondering
if there was something maybe you heardfrom all the other people that called you
or lobbied on his behalf that beyondjust what you heard from coach Walberg that

(47:53):
made an impression on you and said, you know what when that person says
that kind of things about this guy, that really carried some weight in the
you know, the the when Iwent through the hiring of Coachttford for football,
I saw you know, similar reactions, you know to all of this,
A lot of people writing to me. I mean I had phone calls

(48:15):
from people that really surprised me,right, you know, I thought something
was wrong and then I picked upall of a sudden, I want to
Fitch Foredford right in this because itwas the same case. But what really
sued out for me was the playerswho reached out to me. Yeah,

(48:37):
the players consistently and systematically, oneafter the next, wrote these powerful letters
of commitments to coach Wahlberg and atestament to what he had done for them
on the court. And then howthey later went on to you know,

(48:58):
incredible career and how now they areyou know, across the board, leaders
in industry, leaders in our valley, leaders in our society being ambassadors of
the president state brand. And thatreally that really rose to the top for
me. What education is true.That's exactly it. That is exactly it.

(49:22):
This is exciting. I didn't knowwhat to expect walking into this room
today. I didn't know how everythingwas going to play out once you guys
got on the microphone. And thenit hit me when he started talking about
the Central Valley and the Valley Vand Bakersfield Stockton, modesto Ver said,

(49:51):
I started to see the vision.I started to understand what you may have
heard from him. And when weget a to you to talk to him,
I also want to talk to himabout trials and tribulations twenty years ago
to where we are now, tosleeping on the club. What do you

(50:14):
say an aero mattress air mattress inDenver as a fifty five year old man
to now being a head coach atFresden State. Right, dreams do come
true? Right? Can't wait totalk to him. I'll ask that one
more question for the president, guys, if you don't mind, go ahead,

(50:35):
no please, Just you know,we heard Advance's story and it was
I love hearing it without being ableto see you guys, because I could
feel just in your voices the bondthat you've already formed and the relationship and
the comfort that you have with eachother relationally but we heard his side of
the story where he went to thewrong hotel and was ten minutes later.

(50:55):
I'm just wondering what he would whenhe's not there, you know, when
he was not there and we knewthat he had was when he was at
the wrong hotel. I thought tomyself, the greatest lesson or the greatest
situation that proves a man is notyou know, in the best case scenario,

(51:17):
right, it is in a situationin which he has to prove himself
in an effective way that he isflexible, he is limber, and he's
able to bounce back. And I'musing that with full intentionality, you know
with basketball. Yes, bounce backand create a vision and create a passion
for what he's about. And hewas able to do that very articulately.

(51:40):
Yeah, I definitely can see that. I definitely can see that back when
I see you sometime, I wantto find out it did you hang up
on anybody because you couldn't believe whocalled you on his behalf. I don't
hang up people, Okay, youknow you have friends to joke around and
say, but that was neat tohear that. You hear all the support,

(52:00):
congratulations on the decision. Let's getthe valley behind it. Let's put
some water on this program. Let'sget this thing up and rolling and get
your sons out there. Let's getcheer it again. Yeah about feeling about
winning. Thank you so much,Thank you so much. It is a
pleasure to have you with us.Thank you. All right, So we're
still at the press conference. We'regonna be talking to the new Fresno State

(52:24):
head men's basketball coach. Appreciate it. He's doing a couple of other obligations
right now. But I do wantto pick your brain, Paul, because
you did say this. I wasable to listen to this without feeling the
energy or seeing the crowd, Andmaybe what I'm seeing in here kind of

(52:45):
influences a lot of what I'm saying. Your thoughts from hearing everything that doctor
saw him and as Sonoval said,and of course the new head coach,
Van Swahlberg. Well, there's somuch to take in there, c K.
But I'll tell you what's resonating withme right now is what the President
just said his answer to that question. I thought that was really telling that.

(53:07):
You know, you do learn alot about someone and how they're really
wired when they're in a situation theycouldn't prepare for, or they didn't or
they weren't anticipating, And it soundslike how he handled that his ability to
adapt. Clearly there's some humility ina situation like that where you have the
wrong message and you know that's everybody'snightmare, you're late for a job interview.

(53:28):
But for him, as the Presidentsaid, to have bounced back and
performed as well as he did,that's encouraging. I either a lot of
things that I heard you hear yourhear advance talk about this being a dream
of him, of his since hecame to the Valley in nineteen eighty nine.
You could hear it. The firstword out of his mouth looking at
that room was wow. He thankedall the former players and coaches who've helped

(53:52):
them. He said what we allknew if we watched him at all over
the years, that he hates tolose and that it keeps them up nice.
And I think that'll make him fastfriends with coach Tedford, who has
a similar mentality with that. Oneof the things I love hearing c K
and I know this is resonating withcoach Q too. Is not necessarily recruiting

(54:15):
valley kids, which is important,I think, but engaging the community.
He talked about reaching out to alumni, having an open door. You can
tell he's already been engaging with thecurrent players, and it sounds like he's
optimistic to quite a few of them, not just one or two might come
back and be part of the teamnext year. But when he talked about
out the green Vie and going toevery corner of the valley, that's what

(54:38):
makes it happen. When you getall the surrounding area involved and engaged and
energized, it wakes people you knowwithin the city limits up but little and
says, hey, what are theseall these people coming from outside of Presno
to see it? Maybe I shouldbe checking it out too. And it's
clear that coach Walberg gets that.We know he has the energy to pull
it off, definitely as the topull it off. And Paul I can

(55:01):
say this walking into this room andseeing some of the faces that I haven't
seen around this program in quite sometime, and I'm sure Mark Q.
Jones could explain this as well.There were some people that were in the
year that were excited that I haven'tseen this exciting about Prisono State Athletics and
years. Yeah, he certainly broughtsome energy. And you know the good

(55:22):
thing about coach Wahlberg is he hehas a network of coaches that he has
helped. Now, I'm gonna justbe flat blunt with you. He has
some guys that came up under him. When they before they met him,
they couldn't win a game. Wahalburggot in taught him how to run some
of that stuff that started like,hey, I know what I'm doing,

(55:42):
and so he has he will taketime for anyone. I've known him for
thirty years. I did a campout in the real community. I've won
championship for coaches who didn't show upto that. He showed up, spent
two hours doing three on three stuff. He's got a net work of loyalty
of coaches out there from not justin clothes, but up and down the

(56:06):
state that are going to come outand support him and support the Bulldogs.
So that may be the move ofthe century right there, that he has
that type of local connection, yes, and regional connection with coaches and programs
that we'll want to come out andwatch his style to play when we get
him on probably one of my firstquestions will be are you going to bring
any big name universities in here toplays? There's somebody, Well, cal

(56:27):
Perry, come play here, right, you know we want to be he
said Natos Alabama that spoke very highlyof will you bring Alabama to the Save
Mart Center? Maybe do a homeand away with Alabama? The same thing
with Arkansas. Yeah, I knowat one time when cal Perry was there,
he wanted to bring if he gotthe job, he wanted to bring
a Kentucky in to play a homegame, which would have been huge.

(56:50):
So I'm excited about that. IfPaul, you're very correct in terms of
the energy in the room, itwas packed. Yes, it was standing
room only. Uh, very engaged. And you could see some folks that
look like they could donate a lotof cheese. Yeah to as well putting
that basket. I noticed that aswell. That was the one thing that

(57:10):
I picked on. I picked upon rather quickly. I said to myself,
Well, you start worrying about alittle nil funding. I see a
lot of these folks ready to chipins. Yeah. I think he's gonna
you know, he fundraised well.He was one of the first coaches out
there that started taking his teams outof the area and taking plane trips and

(57:34):
doing things. So he's got theknowledge on how to raise funds and how
to how to travel, and heknows what's important. He and those people
are in the room that helped himdo that for Clovis West. I don't
think he's gonna have any problem doingthat for Fresnel State. I completely agree
with that. Uh So, he'sdoing a quick interview right now. He'll
be joining us momentarily. Paul,any other comments or any other thoughts that

(57:55):
you know, as you're sitting theregetting ready for the baseball game tonight that
you don't pondering. Well, youknow, I was encouraged by the president's
comments that he picked up on,you know, the coach's desire to lead
the players as people. He mentionedthe holistic aspect, right, because Vance

(58:19):
is famously obsessed with basketball. Healluded to it several times. But you
know, college basketball, the coachesthat we see successful are those who form
relationships with their team, who understandthat every players a little different and it's
not one size fits all, andthey're able to engage that unique personality.
And obviously that's something that resonated withthe President that Advance had picked up on.

(58:42):
Yeah, you know, I thoughtit was interesting when he talked about
the pillars that convinced him. Youknow that not just his career and his
network in basketball, but his passionfor Fresno State in the valley. And
a coach can come from outside andget a taste of the passion, but
if you haven't marinated in it werea few years or a few decades in
Coach Wahlberg's case, I don't knowif you truly understand the significance of Presno

(59:07):
State in the valley and what thevalley really is. You know, it's
not just the Fresno State campus orthe city limits of Fresno and Clovid,
but's so much more than that.And it's encouraging to hear that articulated the
way it was. And now theproof will be in the pudding. So
it's going to be really fun inthe next week or two to see how
many of those players say, Hey, you know, we're drinking the kool

(59:29):
aid. We believe in Coach Wahlberg'sleadership, and we're going to stick around
and help Presno State get to thetop of the Mountain well lest as coach
Wahlberg said, he's not setting lowgoals. And you could hear as he
talked about coach weltch the respect thathe has for him and the way those
two guys have mutually encouraged each otherand helped each other's careers. And i'd,
you know, if coach welt sticksaround and comes to the mic with

(59:51):
you guys, I'd be interested tohear his perspective because he played for Tark,
he coached with Tark. He washere when Fresno State was rocking Celling
Arena and you know it took twentyminutes to get from the freeway exit to
the parking lot at Selling because itso backed up. Everybody wanted to be
there. He'd have some interesting perspectiveall and all this, I'm sure you

(01:00:13):
know we talked about that prior tothe press conference starting. The energy that
we did feel at the Cellon Arena, the energy that we did feel from
Fresno State basketball and what it meantto the valley and what it meant to
people not only in Fresno but throughoutthe five five nine, Bakersfield, Stockton,

(01:00:35):
Modesto, you name it, andthe reality of it is. I
started seeing that sort of energy,I started feeling that sort of energy.
I felt like I was a littlekid as I was sitting here inside this
press conference. And first of all, c K, pleasure to meet you.
We are being joined by the newhead coach Fresno State Men's basketball,

(01:00:58):
Vance Wahlberg. You know Mark Q. Jones. By the way, Paul
Leffler is with us from New Mexico, so he's gonna have questions for you
as well. Go ahead, Markyou Jones? What's my problem? Start?
I this is the first time I'veseen coach sit down in a game.
You know what I mean? Well, First of all, Coach,

(01:01:24):
congratulations. I wish I could havebeen there to see it, but I
could feel it through the radio,and I can hear in your voice how
much this means to you. Ilove when you talked about your wife and
the sacrifices that you and your familyhave made. And I can feel what
this means for you. That youdon't see this as something that's owed to

(01:01:45):
you, but a privilege to leada program in a community where you've invested
for so long. And and Ican tell the people are are catching on
to it. So I'm curious fromyour standpoint, is there something that you
feel that you apart or really resonatedwith the President, because it sounds like
you guys have a pretty strong connectionalready. There's something that in your mind,

(01:02:08):
what was the spark that lit theflame that made today possible? You
know, Paul, I would say, you take a look at the president
where he came from. You know, he came from Fouler, small town
here. I think he knows thevalue of family and the value of the
community being invested in so much.And honestly, I would say, you

(01:02:32):
know, since I came here sincenineteen eighty nine, and it's not like
when I first came here. OhI ever really wanted to be when I
was in high school was to bea high school coach. I never had
the dream of going this far andbeing at this level. But for me,
I just I just I love thevallet. I mean, my family,

(01:02:52):
we grew up here, even thoughmy kids, you know, when
I came here, they were six, five, three and two, you
know, and I watched them gothrough all the schools here and watch them
see their success and just the friendsand everything. It just it blew me
away. You know when I startedreally going out to the job and how
many people were behind me, howmany people really wanted me to see,

(01:03:14):
you know, to give it atry. I mean, let's be honest.
I mean, you know, yougo to the games. There's not
a lot of people there, youknow, and why not go outside the
box. Why not take a localguy, you know, who loves the
area and I think people would loveto see, you know, the excitement
of the basketball. You know,everyone roots for someone to come in and

(01:03:37):
to energize, and they want thatperson to be someone that's local, that
understands the valley. As I'm sittingthere listening to your press conference, I'm
hearing you talk about Stockton, Modesto, Merced Bakersfield, incorporating the entire valley
and what it means the valley.V coach Pat Hill. I'm hearing everything

(01:03:58):
that you're saying. The one thingI want to talk about is I love
your story. This is something thatis a full circle moment for you.
This is something that in some people'seyes, twenty years in the making.
Now you have an opportunity to gofrom when you were sleeping on the air
mattress in Denver to being the headcoach, a dream job at Fresno State.

(01:04:23):
Talk about the support of your family, the trials, the tribulations,
and how all those peaks and valleyshave helped you to get to the situation
you're in now. My family meansso much to me. I mean,
you know, you can say,oh you want, and somebody said it
when I was just taking a picturewith my family. That's my biggest accomplishment

(01:04:46):
in my life. If anybody knowsme, my four children and their children.
Just to watch the way my kidsare raising their kids mean so much
to me. And I tolde itearlier, and me I have my own
personal family. And then the basketballI would see the basketball family. And

(01:05:06):
it's not only my players are noton my coaches, it's it's everybody that
loves to come to the games andjust watch and seeing some people here today
that I haven't seen for a while, that it's just so nice to see.
And I'm telling you, I youknow when you get it when you
when I was repered, I hadthe same thing. My phone would blow

(01:05:27):
up, you know for this thisand that. I mean it blew up.
I mean with all the different textsand phone calls from people just saying,
you know, God, congratulations,were so happy for you, and
we're really excited for Pessonal State.I'm excited for this. I'm excited for
the advanced Wahlberg era. I wasexcited when I walked in. I saw
the former superintendent of clothes unified here. I was like, wait a minute,

(01:05:48):
this is a big deal. Veryit's a big deal, and that,
you know, the one thing justand it goes back to what I
said with George Carr with the basketballguys, I feel like my whole life
I've treated people pretty darn good,and I think that's really important. I
think, you know, and Marcusknows, you know, our time coaching

(01:06:10):
and we would talk basketball. I'vealways gone on my way to help.
I mean when I was at Colba'srest the first time, John Jones was
one of the coaches at Clovis Highand it was playoff time. John said,
hey, can you come by,mend if I come by and watch
the practice, And a lot ofcoaches wouldn't do that, you know,
And I said, no problem,you know, and then he'd eat me
one of those years later on thatI was mad, But no, I've

(01:06:33):
done that, you know. Iwas lucky enough. You know. In
nineteen eighty six, I went togo watch Bobby Knight for a week.
In eighty seven, I went togo watch Dudos. In eighty eight I
saw Mike Csassite, Jimmy Valbono,and Dean Smith. So I would go
see a different coach for twenty someodd years just to learn basketball. And
I always felt since they gave methat opportunity, I would always get people

(01:06:54):
the opportunity to watch me. Ilove that innergy. Well, I think,
coach, I've been telling folks onyou for thirty years. And I
remember when I had a small ruralhigh school camp in Easton, and I
had won state championships for folks thatdidn't show up, and you drove out
to Easton and I had nine kids, and you did the best three on

(01:07:14):
three clinic for two hours. Idon't know if you remember that. No,
I remember, and I said,I don't even know this guy.
And he came out and spent thistime. And you were breaking away from
the old system, and we puttogether some you guys, put together some
summer league, and samone kickingmore.I would run down repord. I couldn't
been called, but that was achange in the guard, and I just

(01:07:36):
I think there's so many people likeme that has had those positive experiences.
You'd let me play, you comedown, bring my program down so they
could see a different style of play. You'd watch my team. We talked
basketball state championship. We had hada suite up there. You can't remember
that. We just at Pepperdine.We talked your basketball knowledge with the right
players. I think we can takeoff because your style, even though you're

(01:08:00):
tough, My dad was, well, we would say it like this at
the ranch. Bobby Knight was thewas the white Johnny Jones. You understand.
So a lot of people can't handlethat kind of style of coaching.
But your style, you're on yourguys, but they love you away from
it. That's why I knew coachKnight, his players loved him away from

(01:08:20):
the sport. And your players havethat people's watch you coach on the sideline
that may think one thing, butthey don't see all the other stuff you
do behind sayings. I know it'sa loaded question. I wanted to give
you a little compliment of saying howyou were nice to me, but also
your player relationship. If you dowhat you want. If you do what
you're supposed to do, you're goingto have that court freedom. Yes,
and I totally agree. But peopledon't realize this. You know. Yes,

(01:08:44):
am I crazy? Yes? ButI don't think. But I know
this. Since I've come back,my former players have come back and they
say, coach you are. Ican't say it. You're really soft,
You're you're what's the way you usedto coach? And times are changeing.
You got to be able to adaptwith that. But I think the reason

(01:09:04):
I was able to get the Idon't I want to say get away with
it, but be able to coachthat way was because of what happened off
the court. You know, whenyou go there at six thirty every morning
with your kids and you're working atgym with them. Then they come over
your house for spaghetti, you know, and then again I go back to
my wife, you know, withtaking care of them. But you know,
all the different chocolate chip cookies,having the house, doing this,

(01:09:27):
doing that. They know how muchfamily and how much we care for them.
I mean, it's like anything else. I mean, when you're growing
up, a lot of people gotmy parents are this way, that way
a lot of my players when theyget in their thirties say come back and
realize, Hey, thank you,coach. I really appreciate what you did
for me. I'm looking forward tothat being in a bulldog and I know
I remember twenty years ago John Welchand I were talking at Sacramento. I

(01:09:50):
think he was with the Nuggets.Yeah, and George Carl had called the
president and John and I were eatingtogether and we would you know, I'd
do a lot of motivational stuff withJohn used to. He said, Vance
was about to get the job atResnel State, and you didn't get it.
I couldn't believe it. And youhave waited patiently and you've got it
now. And I'm looking to watchyour success while you're as long as you
want to. Coach. I'm excited, believe me, I'm super super excited.

(01:10:14):
Thank you, Thank coach. Congratulations. Thank you so much, guys,
thank you so much. There heis Prisnel State head men's basketball coach
vans Wahlberg, taking time out ofthe introductory press conference to sit down to
talk with Mark Q. Jones andmyself, of course, Paul Leffler in
New Mexico. Paul, now thatwe're about to wrap things up. I

(01:10:38):
would love to hear your thoughts aboutthis press conference in its entirety. Well,
I thought a lot of good noteswere struck, and you know,
it's a feel good moment, butthe work is still ahead of them,
right. I mean, he knowsthe challenge and he understands what it takes
to achieve what he's trying to achieve. He answered a lot of questions,

(01:11:02):
but there are other people with questions, and I think that's going to be
the next step for him. It'swinning over the players. And I appreciated
hearing him talk about who those youngmen are and the kind of young men
there they are, And I thinkwe need to give the previous coaching staff
some credit for that, right It'sthe players that Coach Hudson and his crew
brought in were high quality young menthat represented the university in a very positive

(01:11:28):
way. And when you hear someonewho'd never met up before meeting him for
the first time and seeing that,I think it underscores that. So his
first job is to win those guysover, and some of them will say
and some of them will leave.You know, it also struck me he
was realistic about the new era ofcollege basketball, comparing it to the junior
college level, where you get twoyears with a guy. Because of the

(01:11:48):
portal and NIL, people are constantlygoing to be trying to siphon off players,
and the reality is sometimes it's goingto happen based on the unique circumstances
of that young man's life. Sohe's not in denial of it that clearly
he has an NIL war chest,but he's going to be strategic and how
he depois it. It takes moneyto schedule to so hopefully that's going to

(01:12:10):
happen. I didn't get to askhim about the student section, but we
will down the line, I'm sure, and I'm really intrigued to see what
happens with that. And also theother thing I'll look forward to hearing from
him is what were some of thelessons he's learned between when he had the
opportunity of Pepperdine and now that hehas another shot at it, because a
lot of people never get another shot. And in between, he's been everywhere

(01:12:32):
from the NBA to high school.So the perspective that he has, the
people he's been around, I haveto imagine his approach is at least slightly
different today than it was when hegot that opportunity of Pepperdine and I look
forward to hearing more details. Andthe last thing I'll say I heard in
his comments an understanding that you haveto unite the whole valley, and part

(01:12:55):
of uniting the valley is reaching outto those who didn't want him to be
the coach right, who had anothercan into mind, or were skeptical.
And you know, I think weheard a guy who's not afraid to do
that, who's not gonna, youknow, let it deter him from the
mission that he's on, but willtake the time to engage people who agree
with them and disagree with them andhopefully win over some of those people.

(01:13:19):
So you move him from the againstcamp to the strong before camp. And
if that happens, look out,well, Pablo, I got a guy
here who put Wahlberg in the NBAand you were asking to get him on.
Hey, he pulled the strings.Coach John Welsh is here. Thank
you coach for coming in, welcomeback for coming in, and for many

(01:13:39):
of you out there to remember whencoach Wells was with a Hall of Fame
coach Tarkanan. He played for coachtark and came to Fresno with him.
John, Welcome back to the Vallece. Thank you. I'm excited to be
back. This is It's amazing howmany people that I've seen from that I
haven't seen in twenty five years.And I can't believe that little boy that

(01:14:00):
was at my shoot around that youremember you ran for me, was in
his dance he is now going tobe assistant coaching coach. Yes, no,
that's I'm excited as well and gotjust just time flies. But it's
just nice seeing so many familiar faces. What was the what was the thing
that when you know you just leftKentucky? What was it like there to

(01:14:21):
just all of a sudden you say, I'm gonna go. I know you
you and coach Wallber have been friendsfor years, but what brought you back?
Basically, I want to win andI believe in coach Wahlberg. I've
watched his teams probably win their gamesover the years, and uh, it

(01:14:41):
was a basketball decision, you know. I believe in you know, his
style of play, his coaching,and want to be a part of it.
Paul Well coach, First of all, welcome back. It brings back
a lot of memories of those practiceswith Tark and Danny and you know,
all those great players, some incrediblepersonalities. But what I thought you doing

(01:15:04):
each and every practice was teaching thegame, teaching fundamentals, doing the same
thing over and over and over againthe right way. And clearly that's a
core principle and what coach Walberg isgoing to do. He talked about meeting
the current players and trying to retainsome of those guys, and I guess
we'll find out in the next weekor so. What was your impression with

(01:15:28):
getting a first impression of some ofthese players that maybe you've seen their name
on a roster or you've seen somefilm, but you'd never met before.
What stood out to you about thoseencounters. Basically, I'm I'm just getting
here now, and I'm the contactsthat you know I have just from being

(01:15:48):
in basketball forty years. I've beendealing with those players. I've met a
few of our current players just hereat the at the press conference, and
it was nice getting a chance totalk to them. And I think they
they told me they've been working outevery morning and you know, playing playing
today. I think they're gonna playedthis afternoon. So I'm excited to get
to know our players. Uh anduh, you know it's the same thing.

(01:16:10):
Those those are the most important playersfor us to recruit, of the
guys that are here already and andthat can help us. So you know,
I I think I say with CoachWahlberg, for me, it's an
easy self because I believe in himso much. And uh, you know,
his style of play is copied byyou know, a lot of teams
trying to play an NBA style whilethe NBA is trying to play a coach
Walberg style and Europe every every levelof basketball is using his concepts. So

(01:16:35):
uh, for for me, it'suh, you know, I think easy
to express. You know why youwould want to be here because the same
reason why I want to be here. I think it's just a great situation
basketball wise. And let me askyou this because you know, I was
just thinking about him and his journeyand as coach Qtan has mentioned, you
were a big part of his gettinginto the NBA, but now he has

(01:16:57):
perspective. You've been friends with himthis whole time. What do you think
is different about Coach vance Wahlberg todayafter everything he's experienced in the last twenty
years compared to when he had thatfirst go round at Pepperdine. The big

(01:17:17):
thing with him is just his loveof the game. You know, I
think, you know, twenty yearsago when he was a Pepperdine it was
the same thing. You know,It's it's it's just he you know,
he mentioned the basketball gods, andI told him three weeks ago when he
was up for the job, Isaid, if there are basketball gods,
you're you're gonna get this job.And because I really believe that if anyone

(01:17:40):
deserves a chance at this job withhis history here in the valley, it's
him. And I think he canget people more excited about, you know,
Fresno State basketball than anybody. AndI think this press conference today showed
it that. Just yeah, Iimagine for you know, Fresno State head
coaches has probably had more people thanthey had since Tark at a press conference.

(01:18:04):
So uh, you know, I'vealways been a fan. When I
was here, before he was atClovis West, everyone asks why is the
college coach over here taking notes?Why is he always in his office?
Coach Tark, you know, rightaway told Danny and myself that, you
know, we're as young coaches,you should go study what he's doing because

(01:18:24):
that's where basketball's going. That's thefuture of basketball. So, uh,
you know, I've always respected youknow, what he's done, how he's
done it, and how his teamsplay. A powerful statement. It really
is. When you think about whatyou just said right there, that kind

(01:18:44):
of sums it up. If therewas a reason that naysayers might want to
think about understanding and uniting and comingtogether and go, you know what,
this was the right fit for whatwe need to do in the valley.
You take it back to that momentwhere Jerry sat down with you guys and

(01:19:06):
said, Hey, if you guyswant to learn and understand where basketball is
going, go watch Vance Wahlberg andstudy his practices. Now we fast forward
twenty years, the life, lessons, the journey. I'm a firm believer

(01:19:26):
in when something is meant to happen, it will. Your timing is not
always the right time. I thinkthere's a storm coming. I think this
is a special moment. I'm happythat we were here today because I think
we're gonna be looking at this hopefullyin five years ago. Remember that press

(01:19:46):
conference, Remember that energy that wefelt something special. Man well, John
knows it, and I'm hoping inMarch, we're sitting in here trying to
figure out where we're going to playgo travel to for the n You know,
you're one of the best workout coaches. I think you have a brilliant
mind, your dedication, your playerrelationship is top notch. Everywhere you've gone,

(01:20:11):
you've had a major impact. Andpersonally, I'm just so happy to
see you back in president. Yeah, and I and I and I want
to thank you for the time youspent with me. And I'm really looking
forward to a lot of success.Oh, thank you very much. And
I have that only with you know, twenty people here that I've known for
twenty five years and I have relationshipswith over the years. And to me,

(01:20:33):
that's what makes it special for meis I almost didn't realize how many
people I knew here in the relationshipsI had here. So today's been,
you know, more than I expected. Yeah, you know, you know,
after you know twenty years, youhave a tendency you forget a few
things, and today, you know, there's six people I hadn't seen and

(01:20:54):
it realized, you know, there'sa lot of people in the valley.
I really like, yeah, youknow, it's a it's a it's you
know, guy, I grew upin Vegas, played at un LV coach
with coach d'arcanian. It's a littlebit of a different person in Fresno than
in Las Vegas, and uh,you know it's uh, you know,
a down to earth of genuineness fromabout you know, from the people.

(01:21:15):
Uh. And I think that's whycoach is going to be so good,
because they're they're going to respect hiswork ethic, his time, his dedication
that he puts into his job,to the players, to the school.
And I think it's a fit becauseit's the same thing with him. He
is the valley. He is theValley basketball for so many years. So

(01:21:38):
I think everybody you know, isone way or another wants to see how
this goes. I don't think there, you know, there could be a
more exciting hire. Yeah, that'sa good point there, coach. Welch
Ye, thank you, pleasure youguys. We got through the interview with
you without you using the word champion. I love it. I remember that.

(01:22:06):
I love it. I love it, y Hey, that is personal.
No, yeah, no, I'mtelling you champion man. Okay,
Well, and John's a champions.So I will say that Paul or as
coach Mark Q. Jones likes tosay, Pablo, I'll tell you hopefully,

(01:22:26):
just hearing from coach Wells right therekind of sums it up and puts
a nice little bow toie on everythingtoday. I definitely want you to help
wrap this up, Mark, becausea lot of what he just mentioned we
witnessed inside this building, faces andpeople who haven't been this excited about the
program in so many years. Thiscould be a very pivotal moment for Fresno

(01:22:49):
State basketball. Mark, it isyou know, it's you know, it's
a big it's a big decision.Uh, it's a crucial time and in
the in the board of basketball,and I'm excited to see the excitement and
I can't wait, and I'm veryintrigued to see the future. So uh,
it's been you know, this wasthis was really good. This was

(01:23:13):
really uplifting. Yeah, to seeto fill the interview, and I think
the for basketball, it's been adrought of feeling this type of energy for
years and you don't know it untilyou tell it. This is why I
want this job, This is thisis the whole I want to have this
kind of feeling, want to seeyour room excited with folks and uh And
I got to tell you this,no greater MVP than missus Wahlberg herself because

(01:23:34):
she's I used to watch years agohow she would fix stuff for players and
do stuff. So I was gladhe was able to really acknowledge his wife
and his family and Pablo, that'sall I got for today, Paul,
take us home. Let him know, get ready for the new Mexico series
this weekend. Paul, you justwant your tin on coffee. I know,
but you might still have last monththough. Huh. Just dismission,

(01:23:58):
just dismission up every day. Well, it's a big series for the Diamond
Dogs. Fresno states on fire eightstraight. Mountain West wins a three and
a half game lead over in theLobos. The Lobos have lost six straight
overall, but throw that out thewindow because the wind's going to be blowing
twenty miles an hour tonight. Theyactually have a wind advisory in the surrounding

(01:24:19):
area. So I mean it mightbe a long game with a lot of
runs, and it's going to bevery interesting to see. So it's going
to be some can't miss radio forsure, five o'clock first pitch for thirty
pre game. But you know,hearing from coach Wahlberg and president and Meenisanoval,
it's exciting to think about the possibilities. And when I talked about winning

(01:24:43):
people over and engaging alumni, theguy you just heard from could be a
big part of that because John Welchcoached so many great Bulldogs and had one
on one time with those guys developingtheir skill sets. So I'm looking forward
to seeing a lot of those formerBulldogs back in the house and if they
you know, if they're not believingyet, this staff will get them believing.
You can hear that there's a determinationand a passion. The President used

(01:25:05):
that word passion, and I thinkwe're going to see that passion. We're
going to feel it, and it'sgoing to be fun to follow in the
next couple of weeks as a rosteris assembled. So which one of those
Bulldogs from last year? You know, how many of them are sticking around?
Are there some players who grew uparound the valley or played high school

(01:25:26):
ball in the valley that are playingelsewhere that might want to come home?
And who else? Can he land? There is already. Coach Q knows
about this tournament down in Palm Springsthat the Bulldogs were supposed to be in
last year. I've seen that FresnoState is going to be part of that
over Thanksgiving week. SMU's in thattournament, Washington State's in that tournament,
So that might be a good tripfor fans already put on their calendar.

(01:25:48):
But as the rest of the scheduletakes shape and the roster takes shape,
I think they'll just be some buildingblocks to excitement. But I thought both
coach Wahlberg and the president said areal positive, optimistic tone today and let's
see how the Valley Rallies is behindthe vision. I'll say this, it
was a great introductory press conference forthe new Fresno State head men's basketball coach

(01:26:12):
Vance Wahlberg. We had a greattime, The energy was right. Cannot
wait to see what the future holdson behalf of myself, CK, coach
Mark H. Jones, my diePaul Leffler who's in New Mexico, and
you're gonna hear from him in justa few hours broadcasting the game. We
appreciate you guys hanging out with ustoday for the press conference and Fresno State
has welcomed the Vance Wahlberg era

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New Fresno State Men's Basketball Head Coach Vance Walberg Press Conference - April 12, 2024

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}New Fresno State Men's Basketball Head Coach Vance Walberg Press Conference - April 12, 2024