Ray Lopes Position: Head Coach Experience: 3rd Year Alma Mater: Albertson College, 1987

Despite having spent just two years at the helm of Fresno State, Ray Lopes has already guided his team to a WAC title, won league coach of the year honors and received national recognition as one of the country's young coaches. Now as he enters year three, he embarks on a new challenge: Rebuilding the Bulldogs into a tough, disciplined outfit capable of challenging for a WAC title and postseason berths every year.

Lopes was named the school's men's basketball coach on April 3, 2002, and immediately stoked fans' interest by displaying a piece of the net snipped from San Jose Arena after the Oklahoma team for which he was an assistant defeated Missouri to advance to the Final Four.

"This," promised Lopes as he brandished the net to the onlooking fans and media in attendance, "is what we want to be cutting down at Fresno State."

Just 333 days later, Lopes' promise became reality when his Fresno State team, predicted to finish fifth by both the Western Athletic Conference coaches and media, defeated Nevada 107-99 in double overtime in the final home game of the season. It was just the program's second outright league title since entering the conference in 1992.

For his efforts, he was named WAC Coach of the Year and Rookie Coach of the Year by CBSSportsline.com.

Having become one of the hottest young coaches in the nation by virtue of leading Fresno State to unexpected heights in just his first year, Lopes was wooed by Iowa State during that offseason to become its new head coach. After careful soul-searching, he elected to remain in Fresno, meaning Lopes was the first coach in the new Save Mart Center when the Bulldogs opened play there in November.

And playing in their brand-new arena was one of the highlights of a 2003-04 season that had its share of turmoil. After beginning the year with high hopes, Fresno State lost nearly 60 percent of its offense by February through injuries and player suspensions. Despite that, Lopes kept the Bulldogs the hard-playing, tough outfit he has always promised.

Even with a depleted roster, Fresno State was still a Lopes-made team - one that wasn't afraid to dive for loose balls; one that outrebounded nearly every opponent; and one that played hard every night, no matter what the adversity.

The Bulldogs wound up going 14-15 last year and finished 10-8 in the WAC, the ninth consecutive season they achieved a winning record in conference (excluding forfeited games from 1998-01).

Before coming to Fresno State, the popular Lopes spent eight years as a top assistant at Oklahoma under Kelvin Sampson. At Fresno State, he took over for the legendary Jerry Tarkanian, who announced his retirement after the 2001-02 season.

"Fresno State offers a tremendous opportunity for me and my family," said Lopes, who is the 16th coach in Fresno State history. "I'm so thrilled to be the head coach at an institution where I can have the same kind of success I enjoyed as an assistant at Oklahoma. I'm extremely excited about what lies ahead for this program. We have a great campus and a community that supports us better than just about any other fans in the nation. I'm looking forward to continuing the great tradition of Fresno State basketball."

Lopes took over a Bulldog program that had made seven consecutive postseason appearances, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament in a three-year span. After going 20-8 and claiming the conference regular season title in his rookie season, the Bulldogs appeared primed for a run into late-March yet again. But prior to the final regular season road trip of the year, Fresno State chose to self-impose a ban on postseason play as a result of academic fraud involving former men's basketball players. The ban ended Fresno State's season before a possible WAC Tournament title and bid in the NCAA's.

But that couldn't take away one fact - that Lopes had taken a team picked to finish in the middle of the WAC race in both the preseason coaches' and media polls and guided them into the conference's high-rent district.

Lopes is no stranger to success, helping the Sooners to eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, plus a trip to the Sweet 16 in 1999 and the 2002 Final Four. While at Oklahoma, the Sooners won at least 20 games five seasons in a row, averaging 26 wins per year, including a 31-5 record in 2001-02. The Sooners had a 187-74 record while Lopes was an assistant coach and won the 2001 and '02 Big 12 Tournament title. Oklahoma was no worse than a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament over his last three years.

"Ray Lopes was one of the brightest assistant coaches in college basketball, and we were very fortunate to have come aboard to guide our program," said Fresno State Athletics Director Scott Johnson. "From the first time we met, I was very impressed with him as a coach, as a professional and as a person. Ray has the total package of what we were looking for in a head coach."

While at Oklahoma, Lopes was responsible for recruiting, scouting and game preparation, as well as on-the-floor coaching and the development of Sooner frontcourt players. He was also heavily involved in scheduling. During his tenure he recruited and coached Eduardo Najara, now of the Dallas Mavericks, Aaron McGhee, the 2000 National Junior College Player of the Year, a first-team All-Big 12 selection, and Ebi Ere, the 2002 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and 2001 National Junior College Tournament MVP.

"Ray has the vision and desire to take this program to a high level," said Johnson. "His reputation as a recruiter and coach are excellent. We are looking forward to a long-lasting and successful relationship."

Lopes served as an assistant coach under Sampson for one season at Washington State, where he helped the Cougars to a 20-11 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. He joined the Washington State staff after a four-year stint as an assistant at UC Santa Barbara from 1989-93 under head coach Jerry Pimm. The Gauchos posted a 73-44 record and advanced to three postseason tournaments. In 1990, UC Santa Barbara advanced to the second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional before losing to the Steve Smith-led Michigan State Spartans. That year, the Gauchos knocked off Tarkanian's great UNLV team that won 34 consecutive games and the NCAA title.

Lopes gained his first Division I coaching position in 1988 at Weber State under Denny Huston, where he tutored the Wildcat guards for one season. He began his coaching career at West Valley (Saratoga, Calif.) Community College as an assistant during the 1987-88 season. There he helped guide West Valley to a 23-7 record and a spot in the state tournament's Elite Eight. During his 14 seasons as an assistant coach, Lopes has been in the postseason 12 years, including 10 NCAA Tournament appearances.

A native of New Haven, Conn., Lopes moved to Hayward, Calif., as a junior in high school. He played two seasons at West Valley before transferring to Albertson College of Idaho. He was a two-year starter for the Coyotes and led them to two consecutive district championships and trips to the NAIA National Championship in Kansas City. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in business administration from Albertson College in 1987.

Lopes and his wife, Pierrette, have two daughters, Alaina (12) and Teylor (9), and a son, Trey (4).

Lopes at Fresno State