Brandon Bakke’s “20 seconds of opportunity” as a senior at Fresno State in 1996 changed his perspective as a college athlete and helped shape his career as an educator.
Now, he’s sharing his life experiences in his new book, “Lessons from the Bench: Unlocking the Impact of Bench Players on Teams and in Organizations” to inspire others to help their team win whatever their role may be. The book draws on lessons Bakke learned during his basketball career at Fresno State.
Bakke, who has worked more than 20 years as a principal and educator, was recruited in 1991 out of Puyallup, Washington, to play basketball at Fresno State under coach Gary Colson. Colson led the Bulldogs to a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance in 1993-94 with Bakke as his sixth man, but by his senior season Bakke saw his playing time dwindle. Even under Colson, Bakke was at times unhappy with his playing time.
“I was inflicted with a disease I call me-ism – inherent selfishness that often plagues all of us in some ways. I was really struggling coming to grips with my role on the team.”
After a big win over Washington early in that 1993-94 season, Bakke recalls his frustration over playing just a few minutes. “We just won a huge game against a [then] Pac-10 opponent, but I’m sucking the energy out of the team,” Bakke said. The next day, the team’s trainer Ed Ferreira, confronted Bakke: “I thought you were more about the team. I didn’t think you were that selfish,” Bakke recalls Ferreira saying.
“The next couple weeks, I had a real transformation. A real shift came to where I became all about the team.”
But just as Bakke settled into his role, a coaching change created a new challenge.
In 1995-96, Jerry Tarkanian – then the NCAA’s all-time winningest basketball coach – returned to his alma mater as Fresno State’s new head coach. An immediate influx of talent followed the announcement of Tarkanian’s hire, but Bakke was given the opportunity to remain on the team. “I had gone from sixth man to being buried at the end of the bench,” Bakke said.
Fresno State was on its way to a winning season in which it eventually finished 21-11 and 13-5 in the Western Athletic Conference, good for second place, and another NIT bid.
As the season wound down, Bakke felt he could do more to help the team win and decided to approach Tarkanian to ask for more playing time.
Nervous, he rehearsed everything he was going to say to the legendary coach, and he tried to anticipate what the responses might be. Bakke went to Tarkanian and stated his case that he could help the team win.
To his surprise, Tarkanian said, “you’re right, you’ll play more.”
By halftime in the next game, with Wyoming in town at Selland Arena, Bakke hadn’t entered the game. More than 19 minutes passed in the second half and, still, Bakke hadn’t played.
But with 20 seconds to go and Fresno State leading by 2 points, Tarkanian called timeout and drew up an inbounds play to get Bakke the ball so he would be fouled with an opportunity to ice the game at the free throw line. Bakke made both free throws and Fresno State won 74-70.
“Coach yells and says ‘you’ve got the biggest [guts] of anyone I’ve ever coached. I told you you’d play more!” Bakke recalls.
“Twenty seconds of opportunity,” Bakke said.
Bakke held the official launch party for his book at The Well Community Church in Clovis on April 24, where his children’s godfather, Brad Bell, serves as pastor. While Bakke was a student at Fresno State, Bell was a standout on the football team and the two became close friends.
The room was filled with Fresno State alumni and friends, including current basketball coach Vance Walberg and assistant coach John Welch, who was on Tarkanian’s staff at Fresno State during Bakke’s senior season.
“Fresno means an awful lot to me,” Bakke said. “Whenever I’m feeling down, I go to Fresno. People were so good to me.
“This book is my love letter to Fresno State.”
Bakke went on to teach and coach basketball at Clovis High School right after graduating at 22 years old, becoming the youngest head coach in Clovis Unified history.
“I’m really appreciative of the education and history departments at Fresno State. I was really well prepared,” Bakke said. “I have always felt indebted to the Bulldog Foundation and the people who made my education possible.”
He eventually moved back to Puyallup, Washington (where he still lives) working as a school administrator and, later, for Puyallup-based education company Character Strong, helping schools support student behavior, life skills and school culture. In 2025, he returned to the school setting as the assistant principal at Gig Harbor High near Tacoma.
A few years ago, as a school administrator, Bakke recalls meeting with a family who was unhappy about their son’s playing time on the basketball team and the father called it “the biggest waste of time.”
Bakke shared his story as a student-athlete at Fresno State. “After this meeting, I was thinking this is my contribution, to remind people of the power of supporting those important people on your team.
“People struggle not being a starter. We’re all on teams in so many different contexts in our lives.”
