Vance Patrick Walberg (born July 9, 1956) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the Fresno State Bulldogs of the Mountain West Conference. He was previously an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the head men's basketball coach at Pepperdine University, and an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts. He is known for developing the dribble drive motion offense, sometimes known as the Memphis Attack, AASAA offense.[1][2]
 Walberg in 2024 | |
| Fresno State Bulldogs | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | Mountain West Conference |
| Personal information | |
| Born | July 9, 1956 |
| Nationality | American |
| Career information | |
| High school | Monta Vista (Cupertino, California) |
| College |
|
| Coaching career | 1978–present |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1978–1981 | Mountain View HS |
| 1981–1983 | Los Altos HS |
| 1984–1989 | Newark Memorial HS |
| 1989–2002 | Clovis West HS |
| 2002–2006 | Fresno CC |
| 2006–2008 | Pepperdine |
| 2008–2011 | UMass (assistant) |
| 2012–2013 | Denver Nuggets (assistant) |
| 2013–2015 | Philadelphia 76ers (assistant) |
| 2015–2016 | Sacramento Kings (assistant) |
| 2016–2024 | Clovis West HS |
| 2024–present | Fresno State |
Early life
editWalberg graduated from Monta Vista High in Cupertino, California in 1974, where he was the team's Most Valuable Player in winning a league championship. He spent two seasons at De Anza Community College, where he won two conference championships and finished as the school's all-time steals leader. He then went to Cal State Bakersfield for the next two years, and was named the school's Defensive Player of the Year twice and served as team captain.
Coaching career
editWalberg became head coach of Mountain View (Calif.) High at age 22. He also served as badminton coach at James Logan High School (1983–84) and head basketball coach at Los Altos High School (1981–83). Walberg then became the head coach at Newark (Calif.) Memorial High School for five seasons (1985–89), winning one league title on two trips to the championships. In 1990, he embarked on a 13-year tenure as head coach at Clovis West High School in Fresno, Calif. In 1997, he had his Clovis West High team adopt his AASAA offense, leading to a 159–18 five-year record.
Walberg's stint at Fresno City College (2002–06) had his team going 133–11 on more than 100 points a game, leading to a 2005 California state community college title.[3] He was named California Community College Coach of the Year twice (2003 and 2005) and was Central Valley Conference Coach in every season he coached there.
He became the Pepperdine head coach in April 2006. On January 17, 2008, Walberg resigned from Pepperdine, citing family issues.[4][5] Walberg would later reveal that health issues and the death of his mother were major contributing factors to his resignation at Pepperdine.[6]
On May 5, 2008, he officially joined head coach Derek Kellogg's staff at UMass.[7] He served on the UMass staff for three seasons.[8]
Walberg spent time with the Denver Nuggets in the 2011–2012 season. In October 2012, George Karl announced that Walberg officially joined the Nuggets' staff as an assistant coach.[9]
On February 23, 2015, it was announced that Walberg would reunite with George Karl on the Sacramento Kings' coaching staff as an assistant coach. On February 17, 2016, he was fired by the Kings.[10]
On July 20, 2016, Walberg returned to Clovis West High School as varsity boys' basketball head coach.[11]
On April 6, 2024, multiple news outlets reported that Walberg has been hired as the new men's basketball coach at Fresno State, becoming the 20th head coach in program history.
Personal
editWalberg has a physical education degree from Cal-State Bakersfield in 1978, a teaching credential from the College of Belmont in 1979 and a master's degree in health, physical education and recreation from Saint Mary's College in 1986. He and his wife, Rose, have four children.
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pepperdine Waves (West Coast Conference) (2006–2008) | |||||||||
| 2006–07 | Pepperdine | 8–23 | 4–10 | 8th | |||||
| 2007–08 | Pepperdine | 6–12 | 0–2 | (Resigned) | |||||
| Pepperdine: | 14–35 (.286) | 4–12 (.250) | |||||||
| Fresno State Bulldogs (Mountain West Conference) (2024–Present) | |||||||||
| 2024–25 | Fresno State | 3–7 | 0–1 | ||||||
| Fresno State: | 3–7 (.300) | 0–1 (.000) | |||||||
| Total: | 17–42 (.288) | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Sporting News – Real Insight. Real Fans. Real Conversations". Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ "SI.com – Fast and Furious – Feb 12, 2008". CNN. February 12, 2008. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008.
- ^ "SI.com – Fast and Furious – Feb 12, 2008". CNN. February 12, 2008. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008.
- ^ "Vance Walberg Resigns as Basketball Coach". Pepperdine University. January 17, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ Citing personal and family reasons, Walberg resigns from Pepperdine – Men's College Basketball – ESPN
- ^ Meadors, Paul (July 20, 2016). "The coaching life of Vance Walberg: sliding doors, the dribble-drive and what matters most". Clovis Roundup. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
- ^ "Kellogg Names Four To Men's Basketball Staff At UMass". UMass Athletics. Archived from the original on May 8, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ "Men's Basketball Announces Staff Changes". UMass Athletics. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- ^ "Denver Nuggets add Vance Walberg". Denver Post. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ "Kings Announce Coaching Staff Change". NBA.com. February 17, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ Giannandrea, Nick (July 20, 2016). "Vance Walberg returns as Clovis West boys basketball coach". Fresno Bee. Retrieved January 30, 2017.