Next stop: Cleveland

Fresno native leaves BYU to take over Bulldogs basketball program

By EDDIE HUGHES

It’s official. Steve Cleveland is headed home.

Cleveland, who was raised in Fresno, was introduced as Fresno State’s new men’s basketball coach on Saturday, ending his eight-year tenure at Brigham Young University.

He is now faced with the task of taking over a Fresno State program that remains on probation because of violations committed under former coach Jerry Tarkanian. The university is also currently working in cooperation with the NCAA to investigate whether more recent violations might have occurred under Ray Lopes, who resigned as coach on March 17 after admitting to his involvement in breaking a recruiting rule on telephone contact.

“I’m aware of the challenges here, fully aware of them,” Cleveland said. “And there are many. But I sincerely believe that my experiences that I’ve had over the past eight years have prepared me for this experience.

“It’s not going to be easy. And it’s not going to be done next Thursday. There are going to be things here that are going to take time.”

The 53-year old coach is a Hoover High graduate, who played basketball for Fresno City College and UC-Irvine after serving a mission in England for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Cleveland’s 30-year coaching career includes stints at Clovis West High and Fresno City.

“One of the things that’s really important that needs to be understood, is that this is the greatest community I’ve ever been around,” said Cleveland, as he reflected on memories of selling sodas and programs at Fresno State football games as a youngster.

From Fresno City, Cleveland took over at BYU in 1997, turning around a program that finished 1-25 the season before he arrived.

In eight years at BYU, Cleveland led the Cougars to a 138-108 record, three NCAA Tournaments and two National Invitation Tournaments. BYU was 22-11 in Cleveland’s third year there, after finishing 9-21 his first year and 12-16 his second.

The Cougars had four 20-win seasons during his tenure, including in 2003-04, when Cleveland was named Mountain West Conference coach of the year, but BYU finished 9-21 last season.

Cleveland now returns to Fresno, where his parents and other family members live.

“This is where I grew up, and I have come home,” Cleveland said. “And this is where I want to finish my career. I want to re-establish this program. I want to do it in the right way. And I want this community to be excited and united about getting behind this program.”

Cleveland was one of three finalists the search committee recommended to interim athletic director Paul Oliaro and university president John Welty. The other two were current Fresno City coach Vance Walberg and Kansas assistant Tim Jankovich, said Cynthia Teniente-Matson, chair of the committee.

“Coach Cleveland has the experience,” Welty said. “He’s turned one program around. He’s highly respected nationally and certainly has ties to this community.”

Former Fresno State standout Larry Abney, who played under Cleveland for one year at Fresno City before helping the Bulldogs reach the NCAA Tournament under Tarkanian, said the university made a good choice.

“Cleveland allows you to play, but at the same time he teaches you how to play within boundaries, but he lets you go,” Abney said. “You have a big yard and he lets you go all through the yard, where with Lopes, these guys were chained to the fence. They could only go three or four feet.”

Welty, Oliaro and Teniente-Matson each cited Cleveland’s Division I coaching experience as one of the important factors that led to his hiring.

Cleveland said he was contacted by Bob Beaudine of Eastman & Beaudine, the Texas-based firm hired by the university to help with the search, about two weeks ago. Cleveland said he told Beaudine then that the timing wasn’t right, but Beaudine was persistent, calling Cleveland back two or three days later, urging the coach to give the Fresno State job some thought.

Welty and Oliaro met with Cleveland at the Final Four in St. Louis. The coach then met with the search committee before being offered the job on Friday, he said.

Cleveland met with players from the current roster at the Save Mart Center after Saturday’s press conference. As of Saturday afternoon, he had not had a chance to see any of them play yet, but he said he has a box of game DVDs, which he plans towatch in his hotel room.

Today marks the beginning of a “dead period” in recruiting, when coaches cannot contact prospects. This period lasts through Thursday, and then there is a contact period through April 30.

With such little time remaining to sign recruits, Cleveland said he was looking forward to getting to know the current players and their families.

“My biggest need is to keep the guys that are here, here,” Cleveland said. “And they need to understand that and know that from me.