A New Challenge

On the surface, Steve Fisher and San Diego State’s basketball program seem about as natural a pairing as, say, a snowstorm at the beach.

Fisher, a Midwestern guy, coached Michigan to one national championship and reached two more title games. He coached the Fab Five. He was 184-82 in just more than eight seasons, reaching the postseason every year.

San Diego State? The weather’s great, but don’t come here looking for hoops tradition. It’s taken the Aztecs more than 16 seasons to win as many games as Fisher did at Michigan. They’re 0-3 in the NCAA tournament, their most recent appearance coming in 1985.

Only a couple of players have become big names nationally, and one of them, Tony Gwynn, is far more famous for being in baseball’s 3,000-hits club than for the school-record 590 assists he dished out as an Aztec point guard from 1978-81.

Fisher knew the score before he was hired on March 26. He took the job anyway.

He’s already gotten a commitment from Chris Walton, the youngest son of Hall of Famer Bill Walton. Up next is turning around a program that has had one winning season in 14 years.

“He told us to plan to shock the world,” sophomore forward Myron Epps said.

That would be quite a shock, considering the Aztecs were 4-22 last year and are picked to finish near the bottom of the new Mountain West Conference.

It’s a long way from Michigan maize and blue to Aztec scarlet and black.

“It’s a different challenge here,” the 54-year-old Fisher said. “At Michigan, we were selling tradition and reputation and past successes. Here we’re talking about being part of the building blocks, to build that basketball tradition and history.”

Fisher has resources his predecessors didn’t. Athletic director Rick Bay has increased funding for basketball, and the Aztecs are entering their third season in the gleaming 12,400-seat Cox Arena on campus.

Rock concerts fill the arena, but not bad basketball. San Diego State’s average attendance last year was 3,189.

Fisher estimates he’s spoken at more than 70 functions since he was hired. That’s just as critical as anything he tells his players at practice.

“Part of my charge right now is a responsibility to kind of fan the flame a little bit, get an ember that can get people into this building to get us going,” Fisher said.

“The pulpit I preached from in the past can help. It may get us in doors that were not only closed, but locked. Now it’s opening those doors.”

Fisher’s Michigan career began and ended abruptly. He became interim coach on the eve of the 1989 NCAA tournament after Bill Frieder accepted the Arizona State job, and led the Wolverines to the title. The interim tag came off, the Fab Five came to Ann Arbor and the Wolverines were back in the title games in 1992 and ‘93, losing both.

He was fired in October 1997, shortly after his role in arranging complimentary tickets for a booster was called into question. The investigation cited three NCAA violations the university considered minor.

Bay is convinced that Fisher was a scapegoat.

“I bet Michigan wishes they had him back right now,” said Bay, a former wrestler and wrestling coach at Michigan. The Wolverines were 12-19 last year.

After Fred Trenkle left the Aztecs at the end of last season, Bay was determined to hire a nationally prominent coach.

“It was ironic that our search got more attention than any of our games,” Bay said. “Once we got people talking about it, it became fashionable to look at the San Diego State job.”

Bay figures that the curiosity will help sell tickets.

“We have very little tradition and I think what this hire has done is raise the awareness level of San Diego State in the community so people are more apt to come to the game,” Bay said. “We still have to be competitive and win some games ... but I believe we’ll build much faster than under other circumstances.”

Next year, there will be a Walton on campus. Chris Walton turned down a scholarship offer from his father’s alma mater, UCLA, to commit to San Diego State, saying he was confident Fisher will turn things around.

Fisher still will use his connections to recruit in the Midwest, but knows the Aztecs have to work the West Coast, particularly keeping San Diego kids at home.

Getting Walton was a huge step.

“Anytime you get someone of a national reputation who’s being recruited by schools of renown, that makes a statement,” Fisher said. “That creates a perception regionally and nationally that you can do something that’s not been done in the past.”

Fisher’s staff includes Brian Dutcher, who led the recruiting of the Fab Five at Michigan, and Jim Tomey, Chris Walton’s former coach at University of San Diego High.

Fisher’s presence has already paid off, said sophomore guard David Abramowitz, who played at Uni High.

“I think he’s going to bring in some great players,” Abramowitz said. “If we can get big-time players, and we’re in a big-time conference now, we can be a big-time program.”

Abramowitz doesn’t know if the Aztecs can win right way, but said the atmosphere is already different.

“First of all, I think he brings a winning attitude, which we need,” Abramowitz said. “I know we’re looking a lot better than last year.”