More on Fisher and the Aztec basketball program

It has already been read by many at this point but here's a link to Myron Medcalf's feature on what Steve Fisher has achieved at San Diego State, with some information on the pre-Fisher state of the program. This section stood out:

...He hit the streets and became an evangelist for SDSU hoops.

"I spoke at 79 different events my first 365 days," Fisher says. "Kept count of them. From small little coffee groups of 15 or 20 to the national rotary group in downtown San Diego, 400 [people], and everything in between to spread the word about San Diego State basketball."

He made promises of a bright future that his team's five-win season in his first year failed to back. So the stands were still empty in those early years.

"You'd come here and you'd be able to count the number of fans here on your hand," said Brian Dutcher, an assistant on Fisher's staffs at Michigan and San Diego State. "There'd be 100, 200, 500 fans, maybe. So it was tough, it was kind of a dead environment."

That's significant if you're going to understand the length of Fisher's ride. Banners for SDSU's six NCAA tourney appearances now jut from the ceiling at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs, who will play at Wyoming on ESPNU at 11 p.m. ET, have won 20 or more games for nine consecutive seasons (including this one) and they've won seven Mountain West titles since his arrival. The team's vibrant fans -- "The Show" -- are nationally recognized for their fervor...

Call me crazy (that's mild compared to other epithets tossed in my direction) but I still believe San Jose State University basketball can become what San Diego State now is.

As perennial fans, we have (to steal a line from the late Dave Carter), been "beat down, misdirected, cropped short and sized to fit" for soooooooo long yet haven't surrendered. That maintenance -- without sustenance -- is a miracle in itself.

We want a second supernatural occurrence -- a successful team and program. The fans deserve it for maintaining allegiance after such a lengthy barren existence, one full of hope but also with the deep down knowing that nothing was going to really change.

Let us hope the present administration is as serious about funding and supporting men's basketball as it currently appears. Let's hope it goes further.

Let us hope Coach Wojcik does 80 events in his first 365 days.