San Diego State: College Basketball Power?
It took Steve Fisher 12 years to accomplish the mission, but San Diego State has turned into a college basketball powerhouse.
From Fisher’s humble beginnings of a 5-23 season in 1999-2000, the Aztecs have built a strong program that finally showed the nation what it was capable of accomplishing a year ago.
San Diego State reached the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in its history as a Division I program. Prior to becoming a Division I program in 1970, its farthest tournament appearance came in 1967 when San Diego State reached the Division II quarterfinals. That appearance came under then-coach George Ziegenfuss, who was the most well-known coach the Aztecs ever had.
When Fisher came to the Aztecs following a stint as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings, the result was the five-win season previously mentioned. Within two years, Fisher posted a 21-12 record in 2001-02, and he hasn’t had less than 20 wins in a season since the 2005-06 campaign.
The 34-3 season last year, which included a 74-67 loss to eventual NCAA champion Connecticut, raised questions about whether San Diego State would be known as more than just the school that produced legendary San Diego Padres baseball star Tony Gwynn. Is this season going to be the one that opens up the floodgates to more basketball recruits?
Kawhi Leonard exited after two seasons to go to the NBA, where he is currently in limbo with the San Antonio Spurs because the league is in lockout. His absence will be felt immediately because the 6-foot-7 sophomore was such a playmaker. He was fourth in scoring in the Mountain West Conference (15.4 points per game) and tops in offensive rebounding (3.3), defensive rebounding (7.4) and total boards (10.7).
The addition of 6-11 Garrett Green, who previously played at LSU and averaged 6.3 points and 5.1 rebounds last year as a junior, will help the Aztecs absorb the loss of Leonard to an extent.
The Aztecs figure to be in the Mountain West Conference title race once again, and a key to their potential future success lies in who is not in the league this year. Brigham Young, which tied the Aztecs for the MWC title, is an independent program once again and is not on the 2011-12 San Diego State schedule.
The loss of Leonard means San Diego State might fly under many teams’ radars. The Aztecs are not among the preseason top 25 teams on many depth charts, but that could change. Fisher’s presence alone, plus a 34-win season last year, could be the difference that makes San Diego a future recruiting destination for blue-chip athletes.
Read the in-depth Men's Basketball preview for San Diego State
