Fresno State Men's Basketball Adds Thanksgiving Tournament to Schedule

By Steven Sanchez

Published 9 months ago on

June 6, 2024

The Fresno State men's basketball team will be one of four men's basketball teams in the Acrisure Holiday Invitational during Thanksgiving week in Palm Springs. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)

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Fresno State will be one of four men’s basketball teams in the Acrisure Holiday Invitational during Thanksgiving week in Palm Springs.

The Bulldogs will open with Washington State on Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 6 p.m. PT. Cal Baptist and SMU will play in the first game of the event at 3:30 p.m. The championship and third-place games will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 27.

New Coach, New Team

This will be a good test for the Bulldogs and new coach Vance Walberg, who took over the job on April 6. The school is hoping that his experience at the high school, community college, college, and professional levels — along with his dribble drive motion offense — can produce success on the court.

Though the roster isn’t yet complete, Fresno State has brought in new talent the offseason.

Junior Alex Crawford became the Walberg’s first signee after one season at San Diego City College. The 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward averaged 15.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He shot 65.7% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range while earning All-State recognition.

The 2024 NJCAA DI Player of the Year Amar Augillard from Triton College in Illinois joined the squad. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound junior guard averaged 22.7 points per game last year. He finished the season ranked No. 2 in the nation in total points (841), field goals made (296) and 3-point field goals made (122). He broke Triton school records.

The Bulldogs also welcomed transfers with redshirt freshman forward Elijah Price from Drake and junior center Mor Seck from Hawaii.

The 6-foot-9, 205 Price sat out his first season, but was a two-time First Team Division 1 All-CIF selection during his time at St. Anthony’s High School prior to playing for one season for Golden State Prep. He was also the the Long Beach Century Club Basketball Player of the Year.

The 7-foot-1, 255-pound Seck is a native of Senegal and appeared in 48 games for the Warriors, averaging 3.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 10.5 minutes per game.

The official schedule for the Bulldogs hasn’t been released. The only thing that’s official is the invitational.

The Tournament

The tournament is part of the Acrisure Series, the country’s largest MTE series (multiple team event), which will be held at the new 11,000-seat Acrisure Arena. It will be the largest college basketball tournament in the United States that features men’s and women’s teams all playing at one site. There’ll be 21 teams playing 19 games over four days. It runs from Tuesday, Nov. 26 through Friday, Nov. 29 and will include seven women’s teams and 14 men’s teams.

Last year’s series showcased a game between Arizona and Michigan State (won 74-68 by Arizona). It drew record-breaking TV ratings. That was paired with a four-team tournament that ran Friday and Saturday which featured Arkansas State, Hawaii, UT Rio Grand Valley and San Diego. Hawaii won it.

TNT Sports has signed on to be the television partner. The broadcast schedule hasn’t been announced.