March 19, 2015
McGrane: Few Peers Over Last Few Years for Aztecs | Notebook | Quotes,
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By Mick McGrane (MickOnTheMesa)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It has its roots in players past and milestones unmet, in hopes realized and dreams dashed.
It is the road less traveled and the one rarely tamed, where the survivors are sifted out by degrees of bruising and the casualties lay as crumpled as busted brackets.
The NCAA Tournament doesn't have a merit system for mediocrity. And if San Diego State's men's basketball team hasn't yet anchored itself as one of the premiere program's in the nation, well, the nation has been in the midst of an awfully long nap.
As the No. 8 seed Aztecs ready for No. 9 seed St. John's in a second-round game at Time Warner Cable Arena, they do so as one of only eight teams in the country to appear in at least six straight NCAA Tournaments.
In the event you're scoring at home, there are currently 351 Division I basketball teams in the United States, meaning SDSU's six consecutive appearances are unmatched by 97.7 percent of those 351 schools.
That's flirting with pretty good and right next door to prominent.
"It hasn't just been one year, but repeatedly over the last few years," said coach Steve Fisher. "When I go to a Final Four, everybody wants to talk to me about San Diego State, and that's a good thing. We've been six straight years, so that helps to enhance your image and the blueprint of who you are.
"Our goal is to do something we've never done before. We've never gone beyond the Sweet 16. I said that last year after we lost (in the Sweet 16). One of these days, and I may not be here to enjoy it, but San Diego State will get farther than we are right now; that's our hope. Our hopes and dreams are like everyone, but I think there's a bit of reality that we've attached to it. Our players have experienced winning in this event and also the bitterness of losing, of having to go home before you want to."
Seldom do the Aztecs go home without landing a haymaker, however. Entering Friday's contest, SDSU has won at least one game in the tournament three of the last four years. During that stretch, the Aztecs have won five NCAA Tournament games.
The remainder of the Mountain West has won four.
"When he came from Michigan, Coach Fisher brought a national name to San Diego State," said St. John's coach Steve Lavin, who began witnessing the rise of SDSU during the latter half of his seven seasons at UCLA. "The credibility he brought to that program allowed them to recruit at a higher level. Once you're able to do that, then you begin to increase your win totals. When you win enough games, you make the NCAA Tournament. If you do that on a regular basis, it provides an opportunity to make a run in one of these tournaments.
"Coach Fisher and Coach (Brian) Dutcher are a great team, a great tandem. They're like a Hope and Crosby, or a Carson and McMahon. The relationships they have in this business, going back (more than 25 years), has been a catalyst. It's what fueled the growth and development of their program, the rise of San Diego State basketball."