Sept. 22, 2009
SAN DIEGO -
Aztec Head Men's Basketball Coach Steve Fisher
Coach Fisher's Opening Statement
"I am very pleased to say that my contract has been extended two years, so I have starting this year, four years left on the contract. I'm appreciative. I'm excited to let everybody know that I'm going to be here for a long time. I think this is just indicative of where we are with the University. I think it's a wonderful relationship. The respect is there on both sides and we've got work to do and now we can go about recruiting and let them all know that this is the guy you're going to be working with. So I'm very happy and looking forward to not only this year, but the future for San Diego State men's basketball."
Q. Steve, when you first took the job, did you think you would have been here 13 or 14 years or were you thinking 2 to 3 years and see what happens. What were you thinking when you took the job when you go back in your mind?
"In spite of what others might have said or thought, I did [think I would be here 13 or 14 years]. I've never looked at anything as short term. Every job I've had I could have still been in that job and been happy with it. With all my heart, I felt like this was a great place for me. It was a perfect place for me at the time and I've said this before, with a younger son who was an eighth grader going into the ninth grade and with seven years of stability, (it was) all the things that you look for for a family. Also it was important for me to have an opportunity to get involved with an athletic program and University that I really believed in and [that] believed in me. It's proved to be that and then some, better than I had hoped in terms of the relationship, and we know we've still got things that we can do with our basketball team."
Q. Was there any point in time during the early years when you thought I'm going to stay here the rest of my career?
"I felt like when I came here that this was going to be my last job. Until I got fired, until I didn't have a job in 1998, I didn't have a resume. Every job I had I was recruited for. I've never been one resume-in-hand looking for the next job. I found all the good things about every job I've had and accented that. The glass has always been half-filled, so I never anticipated leaving when I took the job. I was optimistic that I wouldn't be asked to leave. I don't know if there was ever any time that I said this is it. I know I'm blessed to have this opportunity and feel good about it. [It's] nice to be wanted and appreciated and I feel that also."
Q. Does the 0-14 (MWC) season (in 1999-2000) seem like a long time ago?
"It does. It seems like a long time ago, but you don't ever forget entirely. It was tough on everybody and maybe it was toughest on the players who we had. I made this statement: they worked extremely hard, we just weren't good enough. It was nice to go from that to winning."