Fresno State men’s basketball Head Coach Vance Walberg is known as the innovator of the dribble-drive motion offense, a play style adopted by many worldwide. Although he has taken his talents across the country, he still calls Fresno home and wants to see the Bulldogs succeed. 

Walberg began his coaching journey in Fresno in 1990 and coached at Clovis West High School until 2002. From there, he coached at Fresno City College for three seasons (2003-06), Pepperdine University for two seasons (2008-08), and the University of Massachusetts for three seasons (2008-11). Following stints in the NBA, Walberg returned to Clovis West in 2016 before becoming head coach of the Bulldogs.

After he brought his whole family to Fresno, most of them have remained in the area ever since, calling it not just his home but their home, too.

“For me, Fresno has always been home. Three of my four kids live here in town and five of my nine grandkids are here,” Walberg said.

After being hired on April 6, 2024, one of the concerns some have had was Walberg’s age, but he doesn’t see it that way.

“Most people at 68 would have thought to get the heck out, but to me, I love coaching,” Walberg said. “I want to see Fresno State be successful, and next year you’re going to see a big difference. I want to see 10,000 or 12,000 people at the Save Mart Center. I want to see people in Fresno really enjoy the way we play basketball.”

With the Save Mart Center booming during exciting games and energizing fans, senior guard Jalen Weaver, who is no longer on the team due to sports betting allegations, noted the team’s high potential.

“The potential is through the roof,” Weaver said. “We’ve been battling injuries this whole year, but we all stay together as a team and staff.”

Once Walberg was hired, he had to build his coaching staff. One of the first calls he made was to now Assistant Coach John Welch, and like Walberg, Welch also has coaching experience in the NBA. The two worked together as assistant coaches for the Denver Nuggets from 2012-13 and again for the Sacramento Kings from 2015-16. 

Welch was at the top of Walberg’s list because of his experience and ability to elevate his players.

“John [Welch] was in the NBA for 18 years, and he worked here at Fresno State with Jerry Tarkanian, so I talked to him before I even got the job, and said, ‘John, if I get the opportunity, will you join me?’ and he said yeah,” Walberg said. “He does such a great job with individual work, and in the NBA, he’s known as one of the best workout coaches in the whole league.”

Going forward, Walberg picked up coaches he knew and those from the area to join his staff. Assistant Coach Ray Barefield attended Hoover High School and is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame and Assistant Coach Chris Stahowski graduated from Fresno State in 2007. Director of Player Development Elijah Hill spent the previous season as a graduate assistant for the Bulldogs and played four seasons at Fresno Pacific University.

Like his colleagues, Walberg was also an assistant coach. Not only did Walberg serve as an assistant coach with the Kings and Nuggets alongside Welch, but he was also an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers under Brett Brown from 2013-15. 

During his tenure with the Kings and Nuggets, Walberg worked under seasoned Head Coach George Karl. Karl has an accomplished career, earning NBA Coach of the Year honors in 2012, making the NBA playoffs 22 times with five different teams and being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.

Side by side, the two made the playoffs during the 2012-13 season with the Nuggets and have coached players such as Andre Iguodala on that team, while also coaching Demarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo and Rudy Gay on the Kings. 

With Karl beginning his coaching career during the 1979-80 NBA season, Walberg worked with Karl towards the tail end of his career, where he was more easygoing.

“I was with Karl at the end of his career, and in his younger days, he was a lot rougher, a lot tougher,” Walberg said. “I thought he was a very mellow coach when I was with him. Players would say certain things and he would let them off easy, but I would take it a little more personally. I thought he handled things very well.” 

Karl said that this was a fair assessment from Walberg, and after beating cancer three times, it helped him realize today’s players wanted to be coached differently.

“The process of going through cancer helped me learn to delegate instead of dominate,” Karl said. “I realized today’s players want to be treated differently, so I adapted my communication style.”

With Karl bringing Walberg onto his staff two times on different occasions, the two hold high regard for each other and have bonded over their shared time in basketball. 

“It’s the mutual respect between us—we even talked this morning and he wanted to know how I was doing,” Walberg said. “The big thing with George and I was that we both love the game of basketball. We both love to throw different ideas out and see how they stick and how they work.”

Before working together, Karl ran more of an isolation-style offense, as opposed to an offense that offers spacing, much like today’s game. Karl valued Walberg’s style on that end of the court and credited his knowledge of the game.

“Coach Walberg uses a style of offense I really appreciate and our staff loved him,” Karl said. “He was dedicated, hardworking and an encyclopedia of basketball information.”

Amid the pairing of Walberg and Karl on the Nuggets, the team ranked among the NBA’s best in offensive categories including points per game (first), pace (second) and offensive rating (fifth). 

Walberg credited this to Karl’s ability to keep the offense straightforward and his coaching style.

“The biggest thing with Coach Karl was his ability to keep the offense very simple, but very effective,” Walberg said. “I prefer to have people in certain spots, and he was more free-flowing. The other thing was he had a great demeanor, was good at working with people and he really taught me a lot in that aspect.” 

On the other hand, with fluctuating roster availability throughout the season, the Fresno State men’s basketball team is at the bottom of the Mountain West Conference in almost every offensive statistic.

As such, Walberg said the dribble drive motion offense is not fully in the Bulldogs’ offensive scheme. 

“There is very little [dribble drive motion offense] right now,” Walberg said. “The mindset of attacking the rim is there, but the spacing and so forth—we just don’t have the players right now. You want a combination of guards that can attack [the rim] and space the floor, and with the players we’ve lost, it’s made it a bit tough.”

However, with promising players on the team, Walberg noted that the future looks bright, but with nuances like the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), roster construction can be unpredictable.

“We’ve got some good things coming down the line,” Walberg said. “We signed a couple really good recruits, and we’re working in the transfer portal right now to see what’s going to open up. But the way the beast of the game is now, you don’t know who’s coming back because what’s happening is you’re going to have other colleges say, ‘I’m going to give them X amount of dollars,’ and we don’t have X amount of dollars.”

To outbid other schools for players, Walberg said it all comes down to money and added that he missed out on some players at the beginning of the season due to limited NIL funds.

“We lost four really good players by not having NIL money,” Walberg said. “I won’t tell you who they are, but we lost very good players because we didn’t have enough money this time last year. It’s the nature of the beast—you have other programs that have $5, $6 or $7 million for their program, and I was coming in with $118,000 and nothing in the bank. Trying to get the money is going to be very pivotal.”

Walberg said to progress, the basketball program has to bring in a lot of money to attract and retain players.

“For us to have a chance of success, I think we have to bring in $2.5 million,” Walberg said. “This year, we’re a little bit over a million dollars we’ve raised. So I have a lot of fundraising to do and find a way to get that money.”

With other schools still trying to navigate NIL, Karl said all Walberg needs is time.

“The NIL era is confusing everyone, but give him time and he’ll figure it out,” Karl said.

But, between fundraising, coaching and practice, Walberg has very little time to relax during the season. Walberg starts his day at 6 a.m. at the practice facility, and from there, it’s all basketball until he wraps up anywhere from 8-11 p.m., maintaining that schedule for six months. 

Walberg praised his family, especially his wife, Rose, for helping him stay level-headed throughout the season.

“The only way I can survive is because of my phenomenal wife,” Walberg said. “She’s paid her dues with me throughout the years—I try to take her on all the trips—she’s been phenomenal in that aspect. And I have a great family.”

When Walberg does have time to relax, he likes to stay active and play different sports. He also enjoys spending time with his family.

“I love playing pickleball, tennis and other sports, but when you get older, the body doesn’t move like it used to,” Walberg said. “I also love doing things with my family. Every summer, we go up to Lake Tahoe for a seven to 10-day vacation. I take all 19 kids, grandkids and my family, and we have a great time together.”

The season is still underway, with the Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship steadily approaching.