Steve Fisher revived his career, SDSU

ByMYRON MEDCALF
February 11, 2014, 1:10 PM

— -- SAN DIEGO -- Forget assistant coaches. When Steve Fisher arrived at San Diego State in 1999, he needed a priest.

That was the only way to secure the attention of a community filled with San Diego Chargers and Padres fans. Because back then, it would've taken a miracle to boost an Aztecs program that hadn't earned a trip to the NCAA tournament since 1985. Only a higher power could draw men and women to Viejas Arena when sunbathing was clearly a better option than buying a ticket to watch the bad basketball SDSU had played for years.

But now, look at what the 68-year-old, aw-shucks coach has done at San Diego State. And even on that rare day when it's raining in paradise, which has Fisher fighting the sniffles, he can look back and see what he's accomplished and what's next for a program that has been raised from the dead.

San Diego State, at 21-1 (10-0 in the Mountain West), is the No. 5 team in the country. And then there's the other big project, one he cannot wait to be finally finished.

In June, school officials will put the first shovels in the ground on the site of a new practice facility. It's significant compared to what the place looked like when he arrived. Back then, there was nothing but dirt atop a four-win program. Disinterested students treated Viejas Arena like a graveyard. They drove by, but rarely entered.

Fisher had enjoyed years of support as the former head coach of a Michigan team that won a national title in 1989 under his guidance. He recruited the Fab Five before a scandal led to his 1997 firing.