Fuller Leaves Strong First Impression on Aztecs : College basketball: Players excited about the prospect of playing for former UCLA assistant.

For the most part, the smiles worn by the San Diego State basketball team Wednesday stretched as wide as the losing streak with which the Aztecs finished the season.

A 21-gum salute for Tony Fuller, SDSU’s new basketball coach.

“I haven’t been this excited since we won the CIFs at Torrey Pines,” Courtie Miller said. “The last three years have been difficult for a lot of us.”

Said center Joe McNaull: “Personally, I can’t wait to sit down and talk to the guy. I wish I could do it now. I just want to get to know him. I met him today and I really like him.”

And Ray Barefield: “He has to be a good coach. UCLA is not up there for no reason.”

Some of the Aztecs already knew Fuller. He recruited Miller and Barefield while they were in high school. Miller said he became acquainted with Fuller during his junior year and nearly signed with UCLA because of Fuller.

Others, such as McNaull, met Fuller for the first time during a 15-minute team meeting before a news conference introducing the new coach.

“He told us more or less just to stay positive and prepare ourselves to come back next year,” said Tony Clark, when asked about the meeting.

Said Keith Balzer, who redshirted last season: “I heard Coach Harrick talk positively about him. If Coach Harrick is positive about it, then I’m positive about it.”

For a dozen basketball players wracked with frustration since last November, Fuller enters their lives like a blue-chip recruit. Nothing has happened yet, but there seems so much to anticipate.

McNaull and Barefield said they will not transfer next year. A handful of players said they didn’t think anyone else would leave the program, either, unless they succumbed to grade problems.

“He seems like an upbeat, positive guy who will work hard to make the team better and make everyone around him better,” McNaull said. “A number of guys I talked to are pretty pleased with it.”

Several players also said they are happy that Jim Harrick Jr., who was the interim coach after Jim Brandenburg was fired, will remain as Fuller’s chief assistant.

“That’s definitely a plus,” Barefield said.

Said Balzer: “(Harrick) knows the players very well and he knows Coach Fuller very well. He can be the in-between guy, understanding how we feel and what Coach Fuller wants.”

Miller said that he does not see Fuller’s lack of head coaching experience as a problem.

“I’m not skeptical,” Miller said. “I’ve known him for quite a while. I don’t see him having any problem. We’ve got a lot of hungry guys. I think a lot of guys are very confident and looking forward to a fresh start.”

Mainly, after a month of question marks, the Aztecs were glad to put a period on the matter.

“I’m glad the search is over and we have a coach,” Balzer said. “We were suspended as a team, without a leader.

“Now that we have a head man, I think we can go forward.”