’Tis the season for change
in basketball

Fresno State has a new men's coach in hometown guy Steve Cleveland, and interim women's coach Adrian Wiggins got a new 1-year deal.

So things seem to have finally settled down a little in the San Joaquin Valley, even though there's no new athletic director yet. But the Fresno turmoil has overshadowed a big transaction at the league's flagship lady hoops program, and apparently there were some unhappy folks on Jen Warden's Boise State team.

Kurt Budke moved on to Oklahoma State after three years as the Louisiana Tech head coach. Former assistant Chris Long was announced as his replacement Friday.

The Lady Techsters won the WAC championship every year under Budke, but lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament the past two seasons.

Budke officially left on his own accord for a job closer to his stomping grounds. But much more is expected from LaTech women's hoops than what his teams delivered, so it makes you wonder if he was nudged at least a little.

Even after a season that included a win over LaTech, Warden (20-59 in three years) isn't getting a lot of positive signals. Starters Cassidy Blaine and Jamie Hawkins (the niece of football coach Dan Hawkins) left the program, despite remaining eligibility. Assistant coach Dana McGraw also left. Letters to the editor of the Idaho Statesman have called for Warden's ouster, and athletic director Gene Bleymaier acknowledged that he met with players who had concerns about the program.

» Ryan Moats' draft stock went up after the Louisiana Tech junior ran a 4.46 in the 40 at the NFL Combine. He's projected to go late in the second round or early in the third despite a pool rich in running backs.

Speaking of 40 times, Hawaii cornerback Abraham Elimimian erased some of the stigma of a 4.71 at the combine with a 4.54 at a private workout for scouts from the Jaguars, Giants and 49ers last week.

"I feel like I got the monkey off my back," Elimimian said.

He and Boise State's Gabe Franklin are the WAC's top cornerback draft prospects.

» Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier was in Colorado last week, but -- officially, anyway -- not for job-seeking purposes.

"He was in Colorado Springs for a USOC meeting," UH spokeswoman Lois Manin said.

Frazier's UH contract ends this year, and his name has surfaced as a candidate for the open AD spots at Colorado and Arizona State (his alma mater). He said he is not actively pursing either job.

» Talented JC quarterback Colt Brennan (Saddleback, Calif.) was scheduled to visit San Jose State this weekend, and a source said he would likely be offered a scholarship. His cousin, former Hawaii graduate assistant Brent Brennan, is on Spartans coach Dick Tomey's staff.

Brennan was kicked off the team at Colorado because of a dorm incident with a female student that was later settled out of court. He has also been invited to walk on at UH.