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 Coach Cleveland is 27-5 in two seasons at home in the Save Mart Center.  |
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Entering his third season at Fresno State is Steve Cleveland. In two short years, Cleveland has quickly turned the basketball program around, leading the Bulldogs back to the postseason for the first time in five years.
In his second season, Cleveland led the Bulldogs to a 22-10 overall record and a berth into the postseason NIT Tournament. The 22 wins marks the most wins for the basketball program since the 1995-96 season and is only the 16th time in school history a coach has led a team to over 20 wins.
Cleveland and the Bulldogs began the season 7-0 and received votes in both national polls twice during the season. Before heading into WAC play, the Bulldogs carried an 11-2 record. Fresno State finished WAC play 10-6 and alone in third place.
Fresno State ranked No. 9 in the nation in 3-pointers made per game and Cleveland's uptempo offense had the Bulldogs averaging 71.3 points per game.
Cleveland and the Bulldogs had two players earn All-WAC honors in Dominic McGuire and Quinton Hosley and McGuire was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft. McGuire also set the single-season blocks record with 114 and ranked No. 5 in the nation.
In 2005-06, Cleveland saw two players garner all-conference accolades, including one who would go on to be named to the WAC All-Newcomer Team in his first season at Fresno State.
While the Bulldogs set a new home court record for wins (12), which Cleveland broke in his second season with 15 wins, and set/tied 19 new arena marks, Cleveland guided the program to a winning season for the ninth time by a first-year coach as well as establishing the fifth-most wins (15) by a first-year Bulldog skipper.
 Coach Cleveland led the Bulldogs to 22 wins in 2006-07, the most victories at Fresno State in 10 years. |
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A trio of Bulldogs not only finished the year as the WAC leaders in assists (Kevin Bell), 3-pointers (Ja'Vance Coleman) and steals (Quinton Hosley) but the same three also would be nationally-ranked throughout the season in their respective categories. Fresno State, which led the conference in four statistical categories overall, finished as the top scoring team in the WAC with a 73.8 point per game average.
Notching his 150th career victory during the 2005-06 season, he also saw those Bulldogs score 2,000-plus points in a season for the 17th time since 1972 and their single-season free throw percentage (.711) was the eighth-best mark in school history.
In two seasons at Fresno State, Cleveland is 37-23 (.617) and has a record of 27-5 (.843) at the Save Mart Center. Over, in 10 years as a head coach at the Division I level, Coach Cleveland is 175-131.
Spending the previous eight years at BYU, he turned a struggling Cougar program into a consistent postseason contender. Taking over the reins in 1997, Cleveland took a BYU program that went a dismal 1-25 the year prior to a thriving program that went 22-11, advanced to the finals of the inaugural 2000 Mountain West Conference Tournament and two wins in the National Invitation Tournament three seasons later.
In just three short years, Cleveland had completely transformed a BYU program from league doormat to one that could compete on a national level. And the improvement was just beginning.
The 2000-01 campaign was even better. BYU went 24-9 (10-4 MWC), tied for the league's regular season title, won the conference tournament, the school's first such title since 1992, and played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995.
In the three years that followed, Cleveland guided the Cougars to the postseason each season - two NCAA appearances and one berth in the NIT. In his eight-year career with BYU, the head coach went 138-108 and in 2003 was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
The success that Cleveland helped craft had another positive effect - in becoming a winning program, BYU also turned into one of the national leaders in attendance. The Cougars averaged over 13,000 fans in five of his last six years, and from 1999-04 the Marriott Center, home to BYU basketball, was the toughest road destination in the nation. During that five-year stretch, the Cougars went 71-3 at home, boasting the country's longest home winning streak over parts of the 2002 and '03 seasons, which reached 44 games until being snapped.
All told, Cleveland's BYU teams posted four 20-win seasons, two regular season titles, a conference tournament championship, three NCAA Tournament appearances and two berths in the NIT.
A proven recruiter, Cleveland's mark on the BYU program is indelible. Eight of his players were honored with a major conference award, including Rafael Araujo, who under Cleveland's guidance became one of the top players in the MWC and was selected with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.
Just as impressive, if not even more so, was the manner in which the BYU program thrived under Cleveland. His teams had the highest graduation rate in the Mountain West Conference seven years in a row, and in 2003-04, the BYU team averaged a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
During Cleveland's eight-year tenure, BYU had 24 Academic All-Conference honorees, the most in the league during that stretch.
Cleveland grew up in Fresno and coached at local Clovis West High School before moving onto Fresno City College. Under Cleveland, Clovis West excelled, racking up a 180-70 record. His success continued after moving onto FCC, where he compiled a 157-77 mark. With the Rams, Cleveland was twice named coach of the year while leading the team to the postseason playoffs in all seven seasons.
Cleveland, 55, graduated from Hoover High School in Fresno and played basketball at Fresno City College, where he was named his squad's Most Outstanding Player in 1973-74. He went on to play at UC Irvine and was the Anteaters' MVP and leading scorer his senior season in 1975-76.
He earned a bachelor's degree in social science from UC Irvine in 1976, and received a master's in education administration from Fresno Pacific University in 1979.
As the 17th head coach of the Fresno State men's basketball program, Cleveland and his wife, Kip, have three children - Casey, Skyler and Katie.
Cleveland Notables
• Became Fresno State's 17th head coach on April 9, 2005
• In 10 seasons as a Division I coach, has coached 19 all-conference selections and 26 academic all-conference honorees
• In the last 10 years, has compiled a remarkable home court record of 117-31 (.790)
• It took Cleveland just one season to take Fresno State back to the postseason. In his second year Cleveland went 22-10 and led the Bulldogs to the NIT
• The 22 wins in Cleveland's second year are the most wins in the program since the 1995-96 season
• Coach Cleveland helped develop Dominic McGuire into a second-round NBA Draft pick and a second-team All-WAC, All-WAC Defensive Team and All-WAC Newcomer Team player in his only season at Fresno State
• Cleveland led the Bulldogs to a third place finish in the WAC in 2006-07, their best finish since 2002-03
• Led the WAC in attendance for the second straight year in 2006-07, averaging 11,713 fans per game
• In the 2005-06 season, averaged 10,407 fans to lead all WAC schools
• As a first-year coach at Fresno State in 2005-06, recorded the fifth-most wins while coaching the program to a winning season for the ninth time by a first-year Bulldog skipper
• In 2005-06, collected his 150th career victory and saw the Bulldogs set a new record for home victories (12) while setting/tying 19 records at the Save Mart Center
• Helped restore the tradition of BYU basketball in his eight seasons in Provo, Utah
• Cleveland posted a 138-108 eight-year record at BYU and was named the 2003 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year
• His 2001 and 2003 teams earned MWC regular-season titles, with the 2001 squad also claiming the MWC Tournament crown.
• The Cougars received five straight postseason tournament invitations, including three NCAA Tournament bids and two NIT showings, while leading BYU to four 20-win campaigns
• Averaged 17 wins per season at BYU, Cleveland's 138 victories ranks fourth all-time among BYU coaches
• Named Mountain West Conference's top strategist by 2004 Street & Smith Basketball Preview
• Rebuilt 1-25 program into conference championship team in four seasons
• In 2000-01, guided BYU to its first NCAA Tournament since 1995, its first conference regular-season title since 1993 and its first conference tournament championship since 1992
• The Cougars owned the nation's longest home court victory streak for much of the 2002 and '03 seasons at 44 games
• Eight players were honored in his eight years at BYU as either the conference newcomer or freshman of the year
• Shared for the most conference wins (48) by a MWC coach in his eight-year stint
• At home, Cleveland compiled a 63-9 mark in his last five years, including three undefeated seasons, at the Marriott Center
• Cleveland posted a 90-26 all-time home court record and finished second for most home victories at the Marriott Center
• Coached Rafael Araujo, who was BYU's 43rd NBA draft selection and sixth first round pick when he was taken No. 8 overall in the 2004 NBA Draft, and Travis Hansen, who was taken in the 2003 NBA Draft second round by the Atlanta Hawks
• In the 2003-04 season, BYU averaged 15,300 fans per home game - 11th best in the nation
• In the 2002-03 season, BYU had the nation's No. 1 average season increase in attendance to average 14,468 to rank 17th nationally
• Coached two All-Americans, 15 all-conference and 24 conference all-academic selections at BYU • His BYU team achieved an NCAA Academic Progress Report of 964
• Prior to being hired at BYU on March 11, 1997, Cleveland coached for 17 years in Fresno
• With 512 wins in 27 years as a head coach at the high school, junior college and Division I levels, he has averaged 19 victories per season
• Has won conference championships on the high school, junior college and Division I levels
Cleveland's Career Record
| Year | School | Record | MWC Record | Notes |
| 1997-98 | BYU | 9-21 | 4-10 (6th) | -- |
| 1998-99 | BYU | 12-16 | 6-8 (5th) | -- |
| 1999-00 | BYU | 22-11 | 7-7 (6th) | NIT Quarterfinals |
| 2000-01 | BYU | 24-9 | 10-4 (T1st*) | NCAA First Round; * Won MWC Tournament |
| 2001-02 | BYU | 18-12 | 7-7 (T4th) | NIT Second Round |
| 2002-03 | BYU | 23-9 | 11-3 (T1st) | NCAA First Round |
| 2003-04 | BYU | 21-9 | 10-4 (2nd) | NCAA First Round |
| 2004-05 | BYU | 9-21 | 3-11 (T7th) | -- |
| 2005-06 | Fresno State | 15-13 | 8-8 (6th) | -- |
| 2006-07 | Fresno State | 22-10 | 10-6 (3rd) | NIT First Round |
| 10 Years | 175-131(.571) | 76-68(.527) | 3 NCAA Tournaments; 3 NIT appearances |
