Ryan McCarthy feels settled down in Fresno now and has even bought a house.

A year after swiftly moving from Alaska to Fresno in a three-day span, the Fresno State women’s basketball coach believes he and his coaching staff have their bearings.

And with that, McCarthy believes the Bulldogs will be better prepared to showcase what they can do in his second season as they move to the Pac-12 Conference.

“There’d be times when, ‘Hey, can’t make this meeting because we’re in escrow,’ ” McCarthy said while describing his first season, on and off the court. “We were just trying to get this thing going and update what we wanted to do here. Year One was really establishing a culture. …

“Year Two has been great. We are more talented than last year. But we have a long way to go.”

In McCarthy’s first season, Fresno State finished 15-18 overall and 8-12 in Mountain West play to place seventh out of 12 teams.

The Bulldogs will return just four players from a year ago, but such is life in college basketball in this era of NIL and penalty-free transfers.

As for the Pac-12, five teams (Gonzaga, Oregon State, Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State) won at least 20 games last season. In addition, Gonzaga and Colorado State made the NCAA Tournament.

Overhauled Roster

McCarthy overhauled his roster with 11 new players through relationships built near and far.

Among his new players is former Clovis West High star Ryleigh Schoonover. With the Golden Eagles, she eclipsed 1,000 points and 850 for a program that won a CIF Section championship and advanced to the state Final Four in 2025.

“I am so proud to represent and wear that Valley V on my chest,” Schoonover said. It’s been a dream since like the fifth grade.

“I’m representing the people who work their butt off in this blue collar field. And it’s just an honor to feel like they’re working hard and I’m working hard to represent that.”

McCarthy, however, didn’t limit his roster to local connections. He’s attracted players from the other side of the world with three originally from Australia and two from New Zealand.

Add Ashlyn Rean, the New Zealand native who played briefly for Fresno State last season, and the Bulldogs have six international players.

Ranked among the top Pac-12 newcomers is senior guard Rubi Gray, an Australian who averaged 14.1 points a game last year at Sacramento State.

In all, the Bulldogs boast six of the conference’s Top 20 newcomers, as judged by Hoops HQ.

Key Returners

Rean could be the top player for Fresno State after averaging 12.7 points (second-best on the team) and 7 rebounds and shooting 53% from the field. She was limited to six games, though, after suffering a season-ending injury.

“Last year, it was kind of a lot of learning and establishing some new things,” Rean said. “This year, we’re building off those standards.

“I learned a lot… the level of competition and what it takes to compete at that level. And just taking that and applying it to this year.”

Sophomore guard Ava Marr also is a key returner after making the All-Mountain West Freshman Team. She averaged six points, 1.7 rebounds

Duplicating Alaska Success

Before coming to Fresno State, McCarthy won 82.2% of his games (309-67) at Alaska Anchorage over 13 seasons at the Division II school.

He’s looking to further implement his “mayhem” style at Fresno State, relying on up-tempo offense and an aggressive defense focused on forcing turnovers.

“Every girl that signs up here, we’re very honest with them,” McCarthy said. “There’s going to be a lot demanded from you.

“I didn’t come here to be average. I think I chose this place because it aligned with the things that have made us successful. Ours is hard work, maximizing your effort on every single play and just really dedicating yourself.”

The Schedule and the Conference

Fresno State will play an exhibition against Stanislaus State at home on Oct. 30 before hosting UC Merced in a season opener Nov. 4.

Conference play for the Bulldogs will begin Jan. 7 at Colorado State, and the conference tournament is scheduled for March 9-13 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

All nine teams will participate in the conference tournament.