Aug. 29, 2011
SAN DIEGO - NEWS CONFERENCE | QUOTES
San Diego State announced today that it is extending men's basketball head coach Steve Fisher's contract and naming assistant head coach Brian Dutcher as the program's head-coach-in-waiting.
"Coach Fisher has had tremendous success, obviously, over the past 12 years at San Diego State, and we want that success to continue and certainly, Coach Fisher would like it to continue," SDSU Director of Athletics Jim Sterk said. "Brian will take over the leadership of the program at the time when Coach Fisher retires."
The addendum keeps Fisher at SDSU through the 2014-15 campaign and comes two years after the University exercised its two-year option on Fisher's original five-year deal, which was signed in 2006.
"I'm excited to be here," Fisher said. "Right now, I'm very healthy and obviously given the success that we've had recently, I'm very excited about what the program has done and what we hope to continue to do."
The two-time national coach of the year is entering his 13th season on Montezuma Mesa and has guided the Aztecs through its most successful run in the 90-year history of the program. SDSU has won the Mountain West championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons. Overall, the Aztecs have won 20 or more games and advanced to the postseason six consecutive years.
More specifically, over the last six campaigns, Fisher has helped San Diego State set the school record for victories in a season three times and guided the Aztecs to unprecedented success in the postseason. In 2005-06 en route to the MWC championship and berth in the NCAA Tournament, Fisher led SDSU to a then-school-record 24 wins. Three seasons later, the Scarlet and Black finished with a record of 26-10 as it advanced to the national semifinals of the NIT. Then just a few months ago, San Diego State won the MWC tournament, earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and completed its season with a record of 34-3 and finished sixth in the final Associated Press Top-25 Poll.
In the eight seasons prior to Fisher's arrival, San Diego State averaged 9.3 wins a year and had never won a Division I postseason tournament game. In just his third year, Fisher guided the Aztecs to the 2002 MWC championship and the NCAA Tournament. It was not until 2003, when the Fisher led San Diego State to its first-ever Division I postseason tournament victory when it defeated UC Santa Barbara in the NIT. The Aztecs would go on to record NIT wins in 2007 (1) and 2009 (3) before breaking through in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Prior to this past season, SDSU was 0-6 in Division I NCAA Tournament outings, but things changed when the Scarlet and Black downed Northern Colorado and Temple en route to its Sweet 16 appearance in March.
In 12 seasons, Fisher has compiled a record of 232-152 at San Diego State and ranks second all-time for most coaching wins in school history, trailing only George Ziegenfuss (316-229). The Aztecs have won 20 or more games seven times and at least 25 games each of the last three seasons under Fisher's watch. At a conference level, the Mountain West's longest tenured coach has helped SDSU win the at least a share of the league's regular-season title twice and the MW's tournament crown four times.
During Fisher's time at San Diego State, fan excitement has been at an all-time high as the Aztecs averaged a school-record 11,668 fans in 2010-11, which was tops among all Division I universities in California. SDSU played in front of a capacity crowd of 12,414 at Viejas Arena 13 times, including the final 10 home dates. In fact, the program's 10 largest average home attendance figures have occurred in the last 10 seasons.
Dutcher, meanwhile, has been alongside Fisher since the beginning of his SDSU tenure, which dates back to the 1999-2000 campaign.
"I'm honored, humbled and excited to be a part of San Diego State basketball and now have the opportunity to continue to be," Dutcher said. "Having worked here under Steve Fisher for the past 12 years, I know how special it is to be an Aztec."
"It was very important to me that Brian be given this opportunity to be the next head coach at San Diego State," Fisher said. "He said it's a dream come true for him and it's a dream come true for me also."
During his time on Montezuma Mesa, Dutcher helped secure San Diego State's first McDonald's All-American in Evan Burns prior to the 2002-03 season, Brandon Heath, who became the school's all-time leading scorer, and more recently Kawhi Leonard, who became an NBA first-round draft pick this past June.
As an undergraduate at Minnesota, Dutcher worked for his father, then-Minnesota head coach Jim Dutcher. He then spent one season at the prep level before becoming a graduate assistant at Illinois for Lou Henson, where the Illini won a Big Ten championship, appeared in the Sweet 16 twice and advanced to one regional final.
Dutcher earned his first full-time coaching job at South Dakota State, where he spent three seasons helping turn around the Division II program before leaving in 1988 for Michigan. The 1982 Minnesota graduate went on to spend 10 seasons in Ann Arbor with Fisher.
At Michigan, Dutcher served as an assistant coach and later associate head coach under Fisher where he helped the Wolverines capture the 1989 national title. The Bloomington, Minn., native led UM's recruiting efforts in 1990-91 when the Wolverines inked Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose and Chris Webber. The "Fab Five" is considered perhaps the best recruiting class in NCAA history.
Dutcher helped lead that group to nearly 100 victories, two berths in the NCAA championship game and a regional final over a four-year period. He was also on staff when the Wolverines won the NIT title in 1997.
Dutcher also played a significant role in Michigan securing the nation's top-ranked recruiting class in 1993-94 and 1994-95, marking the first time a university had America's top class in consecutive seasons, according to one recruiting analyst.
Following his time in Ann Arbor, Dutcher became a regional scout for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA before heading south to San Diego State.
The Aztecs are coming off a banner season in which they were ranked in the top 25 all season and earned a program-best ranking of No. 4 during its MWC championship campaign. In addition to being ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press poll, San Diego State was ranked No. 11 in the final ESPN/USA Today rankings.
SDSU men's basketball season tickets for the upcoming 2011-12 campaign are on sale now. Fans are encouraged to act quickly as less than 800 chair back seats remain.
Season tickets start at $99 and season ticket holders will receive one Aztec highlight DVD, per account, to commemorate last year's Sweet 16 season.
Season tickets are available online at GoAztecs.com, by calling (619) 283-SDSU, or by visiting the Aztec Ticket Office at Qualcomm Stadium, Window E. The ticket office is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. PT.