It’s easy to address the elephant in the room — the Fresno State Bulldogs are without Orlando Robinson, the player who undoubtedly kept them in most of their games last season.
Robinson made the decision to forgo his senior campaign to take his chances in the 2022 NBA Draft, leaving as he led the team in both points and rebounds last season.
“We won’t play through Orlando because he’s not here,” said Fresno State Head Coach Justin Hutson. “So we’re excited to see how that goes and the development of the returners.”
The good news for Fresno State? The Bulldogs have eight players returning.
Coming into his fifth season as the head coach, Hutson will have a more experienced group to work with in comparison to years past. On the roster for the upcoming season, 11 out of the 15 players are upperclassmen, with seven of them having played for Hutson last season.
Fresno State recruited only two freshmen for this season, but they may have the most exciting freshman in the Mountain West Conference.
Joseph Hunter was named the 2022-23 Preseason Mountain West Men’s Basketball Freshman of the Year.
“He’s very talented. We’re lucky and blessed to have him here. Freshmen don’t play much in this conference, so it’s kind of a double edged sword,” Hutson said. “But that guy is really talented and we’re lucky to have him. If we can keep him healthy, he’s going to have a good year.”
Hunter is joining the ‘Dogs after an impressive senior campaign at San Joaquin Memorial High School that garnered interest from top universities such as UCLA, Gonzaga and Kansas. The four-star recruit averaged 23.8 points, 3.9 assists and 6.5 rebounds per game in his final season.
Although he is a freshman, physically he looks to be college-ready as the guard is listed at 6 feet, 5 inches tall and 190 pounds. If Hunter can find his footing early, he could find himself playing meaningful minutes early into his collegiate career.
Hutson will also look to his more experienced players to help navigate this team. The Bulldogs had one of their best performances in recent history, as they finished last season with a record of 23-13 and won The Basketball Classic, a postseason tournament.
“Your goal is always to get better,” Hutson said. “We have some returners so our defense should be good, and we’ve got some guys that need to step up and play a little different offensively. I think we’ll play a little faster and shoot a bit.”
Destin Whitaker may become a prominent piece in the Fresno State offense if Hutson plans on giving the green light to shoot more frequently. The sharpshooting 6-foot-5-inch guard led the team in 3-point shooting percentage, shooting 48% from deep on 50 attempts last season.
Isaiah Hill is another player that looks set to have a promising season. Hill averaged 10.1 points per game last season, which is the highest among returners. Hill also led the team in assists, averaging 3.3 assists per game.
A key component for Hill last season was availability. Hill was able to stay healthy, allowing him to be one of only three Bulldogs to play in all 36 games last season.
Jemarl Baker will aim to play to his maximum potential after having back-to-back injury-plagued seasons. Last season Baker averaged 8.6 points through the first five games before being sidelined due to a knee injury.
Other key contributors last season that will return include Leo Colimerio, Anthony Holland and Jordan Campbell.
“The team’s health is better than it’s been before,” Hutson said during last Saturday’s open practice. “I think this is probably the second day we’ve had everybody in uniform since school has started. We’re gonna knock on wood, we’re gonna pray and we’re gonna work hard, and we need health this year.”
Fresno State basketball begins tonight at 7 p.m. in an exhibition against Stanislaus State at the Save Mart Center.