Rodeo team continues inspired run under new coach Uhuru Adem

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It can be hard to sometimes spot Uhuru Adem, Fresno State’s first-year Bulldoggers rodeo club team coach with his white cowboy hat blending in with his student-athletes as they practice at the Fresno State rodeo grounds. 

Adem, a 2015 Fresno State agricultural business graduate, is excited to return to campus. He spent the past two years as a assistant rodeo coach at West Hills Community College in Coalinga, then jumped at the new opportunity when the Fresno State rodeo coaching position opened up last June.

“This team is one of the most talented in the region,” Adem said. “I’ve been in this region for a while and seen many of these kids grow up, and seen what they’ve accomplished already and know that there’s still more potential, too.”

As a Bulldogger saddle bronc rider, he had notable achievements in the chute and was a College National Finals Rodeo qualifier in 2013 and 2014. Area rodeo fans also knew him well as a Rodeo Cowboy Association California Circuit Finals professional qualifier from 2012 through 2016.

“I had some success in the arena," Adem said, "but the biggest achievement was graduating, so that makes it more exciting to be back."

The new coach first chose to become a Bulldogger student-athlete after transferring from Feather River College, a two-year community college near Red Bluff that later won the national men’s college team title in 2016.

“I learned a lot from Coach (Jesse) Segura,” Adem said. “He would teach us not only to have athletic goals but to also have career and financial goals since rodeo is a very demanding and expensive sport and you have to be prepared in many ways to achieve your dreams as an athlete and in life.”

Adem added the team had a close bond to the community that he would like to emulate in Fresno and Clovis.

“Coach would have 50 to 60 team members out shoveling snow off sidewalks or meeting with community at the coffee shop,” Adem continued. “That helped us have great support at our regular season rodeo and the special showcase that featured our team members.”

After graduation, Adem continued to have a positive impact on another successful college team at West Hills College. Working with head coach Justin Hampton, also a Fresno State graduate, he learned other important strategies for running a nationally-respected men’s and women’s collegiate rodeo program.

“Coach Hampton is very knowledgeable in the timed events as well as the little things that all athletes need to remember,” Adem said. “If you can give them the format of a good schedule then the repetition makes it a lot easier for them to duplicate success in the classroom and in practice.”

That focus and direction has helped the West Hills men’s team place 11th at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in 2018 and 27th in 2017.

At Fresno State, he has similar ambitions, and wants to see all of his students make progress as teammates, students and individuals.

“I want to build a self sufficient rodeo program that sends both our men’s and women’s teams to the college national finals,” Adem said. “Long term, it’s also important to develop a scholarship program so our student-athletes can focus on their academics, practice and competition.”

That approach has quickly paid off. The Bulldoggers men’s team led the regional rankings at the end of the 2018 fall schedule and ranked 11th nationally.

Adem is quick to point out that he inherited its largest and most talented roster in recent memory. Fresno State’s men’s and women’s rodeo teams each ranked third in the region at the end of the spring of 2018 and were one place shy of advancing to the CNFR (and were the only regional program that had top-three ranked men’s and women’s teams).

“Success is always nice, but I think watching each athlete get into that personal groove is most exciting for me,” Adem said. “It’s a special satisfaction watching them develop day by day as they prepare for new challenges in life as athletes and as men and women.”

Key members to watch in 2019 are six returning national college rodeo individual qualifiers — seniors Colton Campbell (Klamath Falls, Oregon), Brittany Dias (Hanford) and Bodi Dodds (Sanger) and juniors Jacob Bairos (Modesto), Meagan Kautz (Santa Clarita) and Mitchell Parham (Clovis).

The team has several talented women’s newcomers Hailey Wilbur and Andee Poole and men’s additions Cole Dodds and Phillip Knierieme.

“Hailey won the all-around title at the Quincy fall rodeo among many good efforts,” Adem said. “Andee is super talented, and although she was returning from an injury she still had a good fall. Cole is already on my men’s points team and has been taught well by his parents who I’ve known for a long time. Philip has had a good fall in the calf and team roping events. They all work really hard in the classroom and in the arena and have bright futures.”

On Friday and Saturday March 8 and 9, area rodeo team supporters saw the results for themselves as Bulldoggers took top honors at seven of the 12 events at its collegiate home rodeo.

The team next looks ahead to additional spring West Coast Regional collegiate rodeo events at West Hills (3/22-23), Cuesta (4/11), Cal Poly (4/12-13) and UNLV (5/3-4) before the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming (June 9-15).

-- By Eric Zamora and Geoff Thurner --

**NOTE: To learn more about a special fundraising campaign for the rodeo team, visit this link.**