Most teams in this conference go after Junior College kids or are jumping on the portal bandwagon to build their programs.  It doesn’t hurt that California has the most populous Juco and community college systems in the world.  Of course the problem is you only get these guys for two years so the cohesion and continuity factors are infringed upon if you recruit these kids.  The Bulldogs will have to rely on his defensive strategies and a slew of talented underclassmen to make a play for conference elite status.  An ongoing storyline in this new conference that relies on JC talent,  the Bulldogs are not immune to keeping up the Big Dogs of the Big West.  After all Grant was a JC coach up in Idaho a few years back and led his team in tiny Twin Falls (College of Southern Idaho) to national juco title.  The talent is a little higher in this league but the game is played the same way and defense as they say does not care how high you can leap.  Playing in the same conference with new world order power UNLV that is saying something and Grant has decided the best route to compete with the vaunted Runnin’ Rebels is to go to the opposite end of the spectrum and play in your face defense.  Grant loves the slow style of play and his team’s success revolves around a shut-down defense that can compete with anybody in this conference but especially the team from Sin City.   

The only player of significance the Bulldogs lose after this year will probably be senior post player Gary Alcorn.  His low post defense and solid rebounding have been a mainstay for three years in Fresno and he should start again next year.  At 6’9 225 this hometown kid dominated at the lower levels but has had some issues against the more athletic kids in this league who play the post.  He dropped off significantly last year in points and boards and minutes with some new blood coming in he will continue to lose time as Grant builds for the future.  More than anything Alcorn is a good leader for his teammates.    He is a banger and is not afraid to throw some beef around and he might have a future doing the same at the next level.  After all he is one heck of a board guy who sets screens like a mule!  Not bad for a guy who was the first star of this program when it was back in Division Two.  Four other Seniors got some significant minutes up front last year.  Lonnie Hughey. Maurice Talbot, Ron Neff and Lucius Davis are solid players who can bang a little but are limited in size and athleticism in this solid league.  Hughey from Auberry California is 6’7 and did start some last year.  He can score and board some and has a good shot of getting on the court but Talbot and Davis are only 6’5 and 6’4 respectively and were getting pushed pretty hard by those incoming guys last year.  Neither is a wing so unless they grow over the summer there days could be numbered in Fresno.  Neff has some size but not much else and Grant might have seen eneff of him already as he barely got on the court the second half of last year. 

The junior class has much more size and a few of these kids are ready to jump into the fray after being jumped over by some of the freshman last year.  Neil ‘the Wink’ McCoy is a seven foot one project who showed great potential as a freshman two years ago.  He took a big step (all steps are big with this kid) and was even demoted to JV midway through the season.  He did better there but needs to regain form to get into the lineup.  Grant could really use his size guarding the goal when he does break which is often.  Bruce Henning is another junior with size at 6’10 and he and McCoy’s battles are epic in practice but he does not have much of an offensive game.  Roy Jones, Charles Bailey and Art Williams are also in the mix and are much better offensive players.  Jones at 6’8 should start again at the 4 and this kid can play but don’t call him Junior.  A solid inside-out offensive force who can muscle for buckets or hit 16 footers, Jones was made to play power forward.  Bailey is also 6’8 but plays more of a wing game.  He can also score and has a solid mid-range game but has some real competition at the three from a couple of sophomores.  Williams is another 6’5 inside player but much more athletic than the seniors.  He was big on the JV last year but has an uphill battle for minutes with his lack of height. 

Now for them sophomores to be who have this town excited for the future.  The guy that holds the team together is second year player Rod Higgins.  Higgins comes from Harvey Illinois (the same high school Thornton Township, as Ely who he helped bring here-ah that’s the reason-which is also the same high school as Melvin Van Peebles and Lou Boudreau) and quickly worked his way into the lineup last year.  Higgins is a great teammate that makes friends easy and was a leader on and off the court.  He is a banger underneath but also has a nice touch for a big man up to about 18 feet.  He is not a true power forward (only goes 6’8 200) but did not mind playing the position for the benefit of the team.  He is really not a great board guy (an issue with most of this team) but he will mix it up.  Higgins can defend bigger guys though as has no problem mixing it up in the paint.  Higgins is not the most talented guy on this roster but he can play and this ‘glue’ guy will continue to do whatever it takes for this program to move forward. 

Grant has the privilege of coaching two outstanding prospects in sophomore Bernard Thompson and Peter Verhoeven.  Thompson plays wing but can also post people up.  The Phoenix product is a little undersized for inside play at 6’6 210 but gets the job done on both ends.  Thompson is best in the open court but needs to improve his long-range shooting if he is going to be an elite wing.  Verhoeven is the quintessential role player who started on the JV but came up and shines down the stretch coming off the bench.  He is one of Grant’s favorite because of his smarts and desire to compete and not because, as some would have you think, he was the first guy he recruited out of Hanford California.  Pete has the size at 6’9 215 to hang in the paint but can also run the court.  He is not much of a scorer but he does everything else, including terrific defense both down low and on the perimeter, well.  The one thing they have in common is they both have bought in to Grant’s style of play and are terrific defenders (you better be if you want to play in the tomb).  These two are extremely popular with the Bulldog faithful and are a huge part the building blocks of this great foundation that it takes to build a tomb.

The front court for the Bulldogs has some solid options and depth but the back court is not as in good shape.  There are open battles for each spot with none of the guys going to confuse you for Reggie Theus.  The only senior of this group is Mike Mcferson, a 6’3 gunner from LA.  He will be challenged at the two from by sophomore Mitch Arnold and whoever Grant has brought in and perhaps even Thompson.  Arnold is a 6’5 gamer from Effington Illinois (Damn, I wish I was from there) who has solid skills just about everywhere.  A gifted passer, Arnold could handle the point but his size gives the Bulldogs a huge advantage on the perimeter.  He should overtake the one-dimensional Mcferson unless one of the new kids beats him out.  At point Grant has juniors Clarence Metcalfe, Rodney Shanks and sophomore Donald Mason fighting for minutes.  Metcalfe will start and does not get his due as he can run a team and score too. This six footer is a tremendous distributor but does not fit Grant’s defensive schemes so who knows.  Shanks has some size at 6’4 and is better defensively but does not run the team like Metcalfe.  Mason played on JV and did well next but does not score much.  This 6’2 190 pounder from LA can pass a bit and can defend but Grant has made it a priority to recruit this position suggesting he is not happy here.  He has got five guys coming in with good resumes including a pair of street ball kings, one from the Big Apple and one from Compton in a showdown that should make Tupac and Biggy proud! 

Overall, the Fresno State Bulldogs hope to surprise the fellow members of the Big West conference with an incredible defense that can shut down opponents.  Add to that a great home court advantage in Grant’s tomb and the boys from the San Juaquin Valley are looking good.  In the words of HoJo things can only get better for the Bulldogs if and that is a big if they can find (and keep) a point guard to run the show for Grant and perhaps a big man who can defend the basket and really board.  They have the forwards.