‘Instant Juice’ : Salone Sparks Fresno Fever

At Fresno State University, where playing defense for basketball coach Boyd Grant can generate a religious fervor, Pierce College transfer Brian Salone has become a true believer.

Salone, a 6-6, 205-pound junior, has taken the Gospel according to Grant to heart and parlayed his role as sixth man into a major factor in the Bulldogs’ 21-8 season record.

“He’s our spark plug,” Grant said. “When things weren’t going well, he has come off the bench and given us the instant juice.”

Salone poured on a splash of his “instant juice” early this season against UC Santa Barbara.

With the Bulldogs clinging to a 34-32 lead in front of the usual Selland Arena throng of 10,132 Red Wave fanatics, Salone came off the bench and over the next six minutes sank a free throw, a layup and a slam dunk. He also put the clamps on Gaucho scoring leader Scott Fisher as the ‘Dogs took a commanding 46-34 lead en route to a 55-45 victory.

Salone also contributed 15 points and six rebounds in a 72-66 victory at UC Irvine and a had a career-high 18 points and 9 rebounds in a 76-58 win over Utah State.

“I like my role as sixth man,” Salone said last weekend while the Bulldogs were still alive in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. tournament at the Forum. “I see my role as sparking the team, rebounding and playing good defense. I don’t worry about offense. I know that will come from rebounding.”

While former Pierce College teammate Kenny Cook has bounced back and forth from the starting lineup to the end of the bench like a Ping-Pong ball, Salone has averaged a steady 20 minutes-plus per game and become a favorite at Selland.

Although his season offensive statistics were not spectacular--he averaged six points a game--he was third on the team in rebounding, with an average of four a game. Defensively, he was second on the team in blocked shots, with 17, and came up with 20 steals, which is a sure way to Boyd Grant’s heart.

“He’s become a better competitor and better at game preparation,” Grant said. “He’s a very good person to work with. He wants to complete his college education, and I think he’ll be successful.”

Salone explains the Grant philosophy in transcendental terms.

“You have to rise to another level,” he said. “You have to play as hard as you can every second, and that’s the way I like it. Everything you do at Fresno is for a reason--to create something. You don’t do anything that doesn’t make things happen.”

Fresno’s defensive fervor is documented in the NCAA statistics. Annually one of the NCAA leaders, the Bulldogs led the nation this season by holding opponents to an average of 54 points a game, and was 11th in the country in defensive field-goal percentage at .427.

“There are a lot of good athletes who failed to make the pros because they couldn’t play the defensive end of the game,” Grant said.

“Brian has the athletic skill to be a good defensive player. I like him and I call this to his attention every day.”

San Jose State, Pepperdine and Oregon also recruited Salone out of Pierce, but he answered the call of Bulldog assistant coach Keith Hughes.

“I thought Fresno State would be the best school for me academically as well as for my basketball career,” Salone said. “I don’t have any regrets now because Oregon and some of the other schools aren’t doing as well.”

Salone caught Hughes’ attention at Pierce, where he played on back-to-back Metro Conference champions.

“He’s quick and explosive to the basket,” Hughes said. “In junior college, no one could stop him when he played in the paint.”

Salone averaged 17 points and eight rebounds in his sophomore year for the Brahmas and was a first-team all-State selection.

“I was so far behind in my fundamentals when I came to Pierce,” Salone recalls. “Coach (Jim) Stevens did a good job of preparing me to play to my strengths.”

Salone was bused to Canoga Park High from central Los Angeles in his junior and senior years, and played first-string varsity in both seasons. He averaged 13 points a game and won all-West Valley League honors his senior year.

Against Cal State Fullerton in the PCAA tournament semifinal last week, Salone came off the bench and hit 4 of 4 from the floor and finished with 9 points and 4 rebounds. But the effort wasn’t good enough, as the Bulldogs blew their NCAA tournament chances by losing, 56-54.

As a result, Fresno has again been relegated to the National Invitation Tournament. In 1983, the team went all the way to Madison Square Garden and won the championship. Friday night, they will face Santa Clara (20-8) before another wildly partisan crowd in Selland Arena.

Salone, as usual, will be coming off the bench--a role he hopes to outgrow next season.