Sept. 29, 2008
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's basketball guard Matt Thomas has been granted a medical hardship waiver for the 2006-07 season. With the ruling, Thomas now has one year of eligibility remaining and will be a senior for the upcoming 2008-09 campaign.
"We are very pleased that the NCAA has granted Matt a fifth year," head coach Steve Fisher said. "We are excited to have him back as a veteran player who is healthy now and can be counted on to be an important part of this year's team."
A native of Riverside, Calif., Thomas played in all 29 games as a freshman (2004-05) en route to earning all-Mountain West Conference accolades and in 28 of 33 games as a sophomore (2005-06). It was in his sophomore year that he helped the Aztecs win the MWC regular season and tournament titles and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament before a back injury limited him to just two games in 2006-07 as a junior. Last season, Thomas played in 29 games, while making eight starts, and helped SDSU to its third straight 20-win campaign and postseason appearance. Overall, Thomas enters his fifth season on Montezuma Mesa having played in 88 career games, while earning the starting assignment 26 times.
This year San Diego State is expected to return all five starters and its top eight scorers from a year ago, including all-conference performers Lorrenzo Wade (all-conference first team), Ryan Amoroso (all-conference third team) and Billy White (MWC freshman of the year and all-conference third team). Each year when returning at least four starters off of a team he coached the season before, Fisher-led clubs have advanced to the postseason and won at least 21 games the previous eight times.
SDSU will make its first appearance of the season in an exhibition game against Point Loma Nazarene on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. PT and will get its regular season underway on Saturday, Nov. 15, vs. UC San Diego at 1 p.m. PT. Both games will be held at Cox Arena.
Season tickets for the 2008-09 men's basketball season start as low as $99 for limited chair-back reserve seats. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Aztec Ticket Office at (619) 283-SDSU (7378), by visiting Window E at Qualcomm Stadium or online at GoAztecs.com. For more information on all season tickets, contact the Aztec Ticket Office.