May 25, 2016
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State has added Valentine Izundu to its men's basketball roster for the 2016-17 campaign following the approval of his offer of athletic grant-in-aid by the University. As a graduate transfer, the 6-10, 235-pound Izundu will not have to sit out and will be eligible as a senior this upcoming season.
Izundu, who will play his final year of college basketball atop Montezuma Mesa, transfers to SDSU following a pair of two-year stints at both Houston and Washington State.
Following his graduation from Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg, Texas, Izundu played in 24 games in two seasons at Houston. In 20 games as a freshman in 2012-13, Izundu swatted 22 shots (1.1 bpg), which was the seventh-highest single-season total in UH history, and averaged 2.0 points in 8.0 minutes of action.
After his sophomore campaign, Izundu transferred to Washington State where he sat out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA rules. Last year as a junior in Pullman, Izundu played in 23 games, starting 13, and averaged 3.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots in 14.9 minutes. His team-high 50 blocked shots ranked seventh all-time on WSU's single-season list. He blocked a career-high six shots vs. Idaho State and rejected five in his final game of the year vs. Colorado at the Pac-12 tournament.
Izundu was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team with a 3.13 grade-point average and earned his bachelor's degree earlier this month. With his degree in hand, Izundu joins a pair of graduate transfers who made an impact on the Aztecs in their only season on The Mesa in Garrett Green and Josh Davis. Green helped SDSU win the 2012 Mountain West regular-season championship and earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. Davis, meanwhile, guided San Diego State to the 2014 MW regular-season title and to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tourney.
Izundu joins a San Diego State program that has won an average of 26 games the last 11 seasons, all of which have ended in postseason tournament appearances. The Aztecs, who have won a Mountain West-high 10 conference titles, will enter the upcoming campaign as the three-time defending regular-season champions. In the last three years alone, SDSU has averaged 28.7 victories, including a 28-win effort in 2015-16.
Izundu is the second player in as many days to join the Aztecs after the school officially announced the addition of Devin Watson, a transfer guard from San Francisco who must sit out next year. The new duo will be a part of a group that features five of last season's top six scorers, including Malik Pope, who announced on Monday night that he is returning to SDSU for his junior campaign after testing the NBA Draft waters without the help of an agent.