Grant Quits as Fresno State’s Basketball Coach

Boyd Grant, who led Fresno State to the 1983 National Invitation Tournament championship, resigned as the Bulldogs’ coach Monday.

Grant, 52, resigned without another job, but he was not believed to be under pressure to leave a post in which he turned a so-so basketball program into a perennial contender in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. His teams were 288-80 during nine years and played in the NCAA tournament three times and the NIT twice. This year, the Bulldogs were 15-15, the only year during Grant’s tenure that they did not have a winning record.

Athletic Director Jack Lengyel, who is leaving Fresno State for Missouri, said he hopes a basketball coach can be signed before April 9, the national recruiting day.

Three other head basketball coaches--Tom Apke of Colorado, Bill Trumbo of Idaho and John McDougal of Northern Illinois--were fired, and Paul Covington resigned at Jackson (Miss.) State after 19 years.