Fisher now sells much more at SDSU than Fab Five history

By Ryan Greene

Friday, Oct. 17, 2008 | 1:04 a.m.

In just over four years, Lon Kruger's gotten the UNLV men's basketball program back to a point where relying on a National Championship nearly two decades ago isn't the program's main selling point.

It's not what the Rebel staff has to use to get into the front doors of recruits' households.

Shoot, the vast majority of kids UNLV goes after now don't even remember the days of Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony (pre-ESPN glory).

UNLV isn't the only program in the Mountain West in that situation.

Steve Fisher, the 63-year-old coach at San Diego State, now sells his program as opposed to the one which made him a household name in the early 1990s - Michigan. Fisher is remembered by most as the architect of the Fab Five, the greatest recruiting class in college basketball history.

"Early on, we sold that," said Fisher, who enters his 10th season leading the Aztecs. "When I first went to SDSU, we sold the pulpit that we used to be and preached from, and that got us in a lot of doors, but right now, we have the ability to get into doors and talk to kids (without it).

"With kids who are coming up now, they were neophytes when I was back in the midwest at Michigan. What is there, though, is an anchor for us. It's their fathers, uncles, cousins that were there, that lived it. It doesn't resonate quite the way it does for me because I lived it, but it's there because of their family tree.

"Yet, they're more concerned with how you did the last two or three years yourself, who you've recruited to the program, who you're gonna play and that sort of thing. At the end of the day, that's more important to them, though mom and dad might want to talk about Jalen Rose and Chris Webber. (The kids) want to know about the Tim Sheltons of the world that we've got."

Shelton is the freshman forward Fisher brought with him to Mountain West media day in Las Vegas earlier this week.

"I still remember the Fab Five," he said laughing. "I had general knowledge of the Fab Five, I wasn't quite sure who their coach was."

Shelton admitted that once he found out it was Fisher, looking at what happened to the majority of the Fab Five after their college days were done became an attractive selling point in the recruiting pitch.

And even now, Fisher coaches the same way he did when he was first molding future NBA stars like Webber, Rose and Juwan Howard.

"You'll see him out there doing defensive slides," Shelton said. "A lot of people might expect him to sit back and let other coaches do it that are maybe a bit younger, but he's right there in the mix of things."

As for Fisher's recruiting pitch nowadays? He's got plenty to sell.

"You talk about a college that is the second-most applied-to school in the United States of America," he started. "We've got a jewel to play in. We've got a great facility in America's finest city. We've won 20 or more games three straight years, so we sell the whole straight package coming to what we haven't done - getting to the tournament, and winning in the tournament. We've never won a game in the NCAA Tournament. So we say come and be a part of that legacy at SDSU. We've got lots to sell."

Plus, in a pinch, it's not bad to have the Fab Five in your back pocket. Who are we kidding?

Fist bump of the week ... Consider it a sarcastic fist bump, directed at Southwest Airlines.

Yes, they don't charge you for little stuff. Yes, their fares are pretty OK. Yes, their frequent flyer program is probably the best you'll find.

But because of some policy which would have charged me $300 to move a flight back from Houston last Sunday just three hours, some college pals and I had to squander four lower level Texans tickets at midfield.

Though lets get real. How could I stay made at you, SWA? It's just not possible.

This weekend at the window ... Thanks to the Interwebs, I found out that temperatures tonight in Boise are supposed to dip down into the upper-40s. At the same time, Boise State welcomes Hawaii to the land of smurf turf. Broncos -26? Yes sir!

As for the NFL this weekend, all I know is that Jeff Haney's weekly pick on All In is putting my unborn children through college ... sort of. Last week I had my hesitations when he took Cleveland as an 8-point dog at home on Monday night against the Giants. This week, he took Kansas City +7.5 at home against undefeated Tennessee. At this point, I'm done asking questions until the man's pick misses. Go with the Chiefs, I say.

See you next week.