Matt Weir/Collegian File Photo
While Steve Cleveland may have not done very well on the court ”” compiling a 92-98 record during his six years as Fresno State’s head coach ”” he did deliver on his promise to improve performance in the classroom.
His teams may have stumbled in league play and they failed to reach the NCAA Tournament, but consider their academic progress under his leadership.
Before Cleveland’s arrival, the Fresno State men’s basketball program’s academic standards were abysmal.
Through former head coach Ray Lopes’ final year (2004-05), the team’s Academic Progress Rate, which measures academic progress each semester, was the worst in the nation at 725. That score is the lowest rating that a basketball program has ever been handed since the NCAA started recording that figure in beginning of that season. A perfect APR score is 1,000.
There are more than 300 Division I basketball programs in the United States, and still, Fresno State fell dead last.
“He walked into a program that had quite possibly the lowest APR,” Susan Gutkind, assistant athletic director of student-athlete services, said.
But Cleveland knew he had the heart and desire to reverse the program’s poor APR.
For three seasons from 2004-07, Fresno State basketball held the title of having the worst APR in the nation but under the direction of Cleveland, he turned that distinct recognition around. The team’s APR improved each season with Cleveland, starting with his first year at Fresno State.
The team increased their APR by 62 points in 2005-06. It improved again a year later to 816 and again (891) and again (928).
“His APR is skyrocketing,” Gutkind said. “It’s been great. It makes everyone’s life easier.”
A rating of 925 is considered the benchmark, and Cleveland achieved that in four short years. From inheriting the worst academic program to turning it around to a respectable one is an achievement that shouldn’t be dismissed.
“I do want to make sure that I express our sincere gratitude to coach Cleveland for his services over these past six years,” Director of Athletics Thomas Boeh said. “And particularly the way he has managed the program and returning integrity back into our program, restored our academic achievement. [He’s] done a wonderful job with the student-athletes in many, many ways.”
Cleveland not only improved the APR scores, but graduation rates during his era reached an all-time high for the program. Nearly a dozen players have earned bachelor’s degree since Cleveland was named head coach, and at one point the team’s GPA improved from 2.296 to 2.86.
Ajay Riding, a former Cleveland player has felt the impact that the coach has had on him. Riding played for Cleveland during the first two years, and gained valuable experience from 2007-09 while serving as a graduate assistant on the Fresno State coaching staff.
Riding is now an assistant coach at Sacramento State and also serves as the team’s academic coordinator.
“Over the course of years, he’s been making sure that guys get degrees,” Gutkind said of Cleveland.
But poor academics wasn’t the only thing that Cleveland inherited when he took over ”” the program was hit hard by the NCAA for violations of former coaches and players, which set the program on probation until 2010.
Cleveland had three less scholarships to work with, and limited practice time to teach on the court.
It would take a magician and a flick of his wand to win in the classroom and win on the court with Fresno State’s troubled past and sanctions.
The turmoil collected during the Jerry Tarkanian and Lopes’ era did Cleveland no favors, but he did deliver on a promise that his predecessors couldn’t ”” in the classroom.
Cleveland’s legacy will always be known for the work and time he put into academics. Bulldog players now stress the importance of education as much as they do basketball.
“The guys that come in, they are talking about graduation, they are talking about classes and majors,” Gutkind said. “That’s a good sign.”
Senior Ned Golubovic credits Cleveland for his success on and off the court. The Montenegro-born forward achieved elite academic status in the classroom during his time as a Bulldog.
Golubovic became the only student-athlete in Fresno State history to earn Academic All-District honors.
“He was the great part of my academic success because I felt I owed that much to him, to give him my best shot,” Golubovic said. “I give a lot of credit of my success to coach Cleveland.”