Aug. 29, 2007
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's basketball team will take on Saint Mary's in the 14th annual John R. Wooden Classic at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The Aztec-Gaels contest is set for Saturday, Dec. 8, at noon PST, and will precede the second game of the event between UCLA and Davidson.
"We are tremendously excited to be playing in the Wooden Classic," SDSU head coach Steve Fisher said. "John Wooden is synonymous with overall greatness in our sport and to play in his event is an honor. It will give us national exposure in a prestigious event that will be great for our program and will give our fans an opportunity to see the event in person."
The game is San Diego State's first appearance in the Wooden Classic and will come against a Saint Mary's team it defeated a year ago, 74-73, at the Shamrock Invitational in Moraga, Calif. The win evened the all-time series at three apiece with this season's game marking the first-ever neutral-site contest between the schools.
Gaels head coach Randy Bennett returns six of his top seven scorers, including first-team all-West Coast Conference forward Diamon Simpson and 2007 freshman All-American center Omar Samhan.
In games played in Anaheim, the Aztecs are 1-2 with all three games occurring while a member of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. In 1977, SDSU dropped a 75-74 decision to San Jose State in the PCAA tournament and returned to the city the following season defeating UC Santa Barbara, 96-70, before falling to Cal State Fullerton in the next round, 64-50.
SDSU returns two starters, including six of its top eight scorers off of last year's team that finished 22-11 and advanced to the second round of the postseason NIT. The Aztecs have also won 46 games since the beginning of the 2005-06 season.
Along with UCLA and Davidson, the four teams in the field finished the 2006-07 campaign a combined 98-37.
Tickets to the Wooden Classic will go on sale by phone through the Aztec Ticket Office beginning Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 9 a.m. The Aztec Ticket Office can be reached at (619) 283-SDSU.
Priority order forms for the 2007 Wooden Classic are available online at www.woodenclassic.com.
Established in 1994, the Wooden Classic is an annual tribute to the legendary former coach and the excellence he personifies. The event, co-produced by Pantheon International, LLC and Anaheim Arena Management, LLC, has a tradition of bringing the nation's finest college programs to Southern California.