On April 21, the Fresno State women’s basketball team officially appointed Ryan McCarthy as the program’s next head coach in an introductory press conference.

McCarthy will bring a “mayhem” style of basketball, where players will look to press up full court and play at a fast pace—something that Director of Athletics Garrett Klassy valued in his head coach search.

“I want to have coaches that are hard to prepare for,” Klassy said. “As we go into the Pac-12, you want a system here that fans are going to enjoy and that other coaches are going to fear—and that’s what we have.”

The “mayhem” system proved to be effective for McCarthy while he was the head coach of the women’s basketball team at the University of Alaska Anchorage for 13 seasons. He accumulated a 309-67 record, earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Coach of the Year honors six times, guided the program to the third-best winning percentage and fourth-most total victories in NCAA Division II and also reached the Division II NCAA National Title Game in 2016.

McCarthy and the Seawolves, despite being a Division II program, participated in the Great Alaska Shootout, which attracted top Division I programs across the country and found tremendous success.

“I’m very proud to say that we are the only Division II in the history of women’s basketball to win a Division I tournament, and we’ve done it multiple times,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy credits this success to an “amoeba” style defense, popularized by former Fresno State men’s basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, whom McCarthy modeled his career after.

The “amoeba” defense is something McCarthy wants to implement next season, drawing similarities to football, where he aims to take players out of their rhythm. He also noted that this style of defense needs players who are ready for that kind of challenge.

“We’re going to recruit athletes, we’re going to work really hard to develop them,” McCarthy said. “We are going to play a high-pressure defensive system where we can mix up our looks defensively—between man [defense] and then mix up our presses as well.”

McCarthy sees this defensive intensity translating to the offensive side of the ball as well, applying pressure on opposing teams and putting them on their heels with the team’s pace.

This kind of gritty, fast-paced brand of basketball directly aligned with Klassy’s vision of Bulldog culture—a culture that Klassy said holds people accountable and brings a championship attitude, which he immediately saw in McCarthy.

“I wasn’t looking for a coach, I was looking for a leader, a culture driver,” Klassy said. “From the very beginning, Ryan McCarthy stood out.”

Upon Fresno State joining the Pac-12 in 2026, Klassy sees McCarthy and the program competing for championships.

“At Fresno State, we don’t just participate, we compete for championships in everything we do,” Klassy said. “We’re joining the Pac-12 and we’re doing it with valley pride, we’re doing it with a chip on our shoulder, and we have the belief that we can outwork anyone. Now we have a coach that knows exactly how to do that, and then some.”

Klassy adds that the Save Mart Center will be a major draw for the Red Wave once the season starts.

“You better buy your tickets,” Klassy said. “You guys can sit there and laugh all you want—people are going to embrace the style, people are going to love it and women’s basketball at Fresno State is and always will be on the map.”

With McCarthy’s hiring set in stone, it sets the stage for a fast, tenacious style of Bulldog basketball at the Save Mart Center next season.