1980–81 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball team

1980–81 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball
1980–81 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball
PCAA Regular season champion; PCAA tournament champion
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Pacific Coast Athletic Association Conference
Record	25–4 (12–2 PCAA)
Head coach	Boyd Grant (4th season);
Home arena	Selland Arena

The 1980–81 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball team represented California State University, Fresno during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Boyd Grant's fourth season at Fresno State. The Bulldogs played their home games at Selland Arena and were members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. They finished the season 25–4, 12–2 in PCAA play to win the conference regular season title. They defeated San Jose State to win the PCAA tournament and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs were upset in the opening round by Northeastern, 55–53.^[1]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	22	Rod Higgins	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	RS Jr	Thornton Township	Harvey, Illinois
F	34	Bernard Thompson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Fr	South Mountain HS	Phoenix, Arizona
F		Pete Verhoeven	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	RS Sr

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1980*		Air Force	W 55–40	1–0	Selland Arena Fresno, California
Nov 29, 1980*		Portland State	W 96–65	2–0	Selland Arena Fresno, California
Dec 1, 1980*		at Arizona	W 77–65	3–0	McKale Center Tucson, Arizona
Dec 6, 1980*		at Boise State	W 65–40	4–0	Bronco Gym Boise, Idaho
Dec 9, 1980*		Arizona	W 70–60	5–0	Selland Arena Fresno, California
Dec 20, 1980*		Mississippi State	W 58–45	6–0	Selland Arena Fresno, California
Dec 29, 1980*		at Northern Illinois	W 71–59	7–0	Chick Evans Field House DeKalb, Illinois
Dec 31, 1980*		at Kansas State	L 39–47	7–1	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
PCAA Tournament
Mar 6, 1981*		vs. Utah State Semifinals	W 71–57	20–3	Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California
Mar 7, 1981*		vs. San Jose State Championship game	W 52–48	25–3	Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1981*	(6 W)	vs. (11 W) Northeastern First round	L 53–55	25–4	Special Events Center El Paso, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
4	85	Peter Verhoeven	Portland Trail Blazers

^ "ALA.-BIRMINGHAM OUSTS VIRGINIA; GEORGETOWN GAINS; FRESNO STATE FALLS, 58-40-OREGON STATE ROUTS IDAHO". The New York Times. March 19, 1982. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
^ "1980–81 Fresno State Bulldogs Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 877–878. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.
^ "1981 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2023.

Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball
Venues	College Gym (1953–1967) Selland Arena (1967–2003) Save Mart Center (2003–present)
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25