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“AZTECS BASKETBALL-A DIFFERENT ERA”
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Sweet 16s…a Final Four…a Championship game appearance.

That is all on San Diego State’s basketball resume in recent years.

The Steve Fisher-to-Brian Dutcher era may be about to take on a different look.

SDSU’s stars have gone onto the NBA careers they hoped for.  The dynamic March Madness stretches are in the rear-view mirror.

This year’s edition of SDSU hoops, as they open practice, will be a team devoid iof established stars, putting a mixed bag of young transfers, young recruits, and a couple of guards playing their final year.

A somewhat younger basketball team, but a very different basketball team from what he have expected in the Kawhi Leonard, Malachi Flynn eras.

A bit of a different coaching change too, as Dutcher looks ahead to the membership in the Pac 12-Conference two years from now too.

Brian Dutcher-pre season press conference:
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Friday..we go a couple of hours of practice
Get injured G-Nick Boyd-out of his walking boot
New challenges

Impact of Pac 12…we are a power five school
New opportunity..new opponents
Can’t wait to see who else they add
2-more years Mountain West
We won’t change recruiting..we get top level talent
Going to NCAA finals cemented our program

I would love Gonzaga to come join the party
They have had opportunities to move before-but stayed
Talked to JD Wicker a bit about what teams are in the discussion
I like to stay regionally with our conference
I think there will be sanity at some points down the road
I think some of the Pac 12 teams who left will find sanity

I think next thing is football goes on their own..rest of us settle back in and play regionally
The travel component is a big issue of what is happening

New schedule..USD-UCSD will to play us only in Viejas
Don’t want to play home and home with cross town rivals
Still want to start a home and home with a name team
The games in Las Vegas will be difficult
We can make NCAA tourney by what we do with the 5-big non conference games

Playing in the NIL Festival and get paid helps us alot financially
NIL dollars important

We have 8-new guys on the floor-and see what we look like
We don’t have a franchise player..we are flipping rosters
We need to mesh by November-good team-good talent

Magoon Gwath-Jared Jones..
Magoon is a red shirt freshman-teaching him half court style
They look good in teaching but now have to play up and down
Jones is learning a new system

Wayne McKinney-USD-played four years
Nick Boyd-been out 8 weeks..played alot of basketball-so there is help

We have young guys who will play this year..this is different this year
Elijah Saunders-nothing surprises you with the portal
You don’t begrudge a guy going to Virginia
The 2-years he spent here will help him to move to ACC

Miles Heide..center position so hard to play..more comfortable as a sophomore
You make a mistake at center-it winds up in the basket..he is better

We have 5-bigs and depth at power forward and center position.

MWC-every team lost players but Boise has 2-good back..Nevada 3-starters back..New Mexico has 3-veterans back

Alot of mystery rosters this year-conference is wide open

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