SAN DIEGO - San Diego State junior forward Matt Mitchell has announced he will declare for the 2020 NBA Draft, but not hire an agent thereby maintaining his collegiate eligibility.
"After careful consultation with my family and the coaching staff, I have decided to declare for the 2020 NBA Draft," Mitchell said Sunday. "However, I will not hire an agent and will keep my college eligibility.
"The coaching staff, administration and my teammates have helped me develop as both a student and an athlete and have provided me with a remarkable college experience for which I am very grateful. The opportunity that has presented itself would not have been possible without them.
"The NBA is a lifelong dream of mine and I am going to do everything in my power to pursue this goal. If this does not end up being the right time to begin my professional career, I am excited about the opportunity to return for my senior season and what our Aztec team can accomplish in 2020-21."
A native of Riverside, Calif., Mitchell has until June 3 to withdraw his name from draft consideration, return to San Diego State, and retain his final year of college eligibility. At this time, the NBA Draft is scheduled for June 25, but with the uncertainty surrounding the current NBA season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the draft may be delayed.
"I am proud of the hard work Matt has put in and the dividends it has paid in giving him this opportunity," Dutcher said. "He worked incredibly hard to develop his game over the past year and those efforts made him one of the best players in our league.
"Matt is doing this the right way, by exploring his professional goals while keeping open his option for returning. Going through this process allows him to continue to get feedback on his game and have an open dialogue with NBA organizations. Either Matt learns that he is ready for the NBA or gains valuable data on areas where he can improve his game. Either scenario is beneficial to both of us. No matter what happens, Matt is the better for going through this process."
Selected by the league's coaches as a first-team All-Mountain West performer in 2019-20, Mitchell played in all 32 games, starting the final 19, and averaged 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor, 39.3 percent from distance and 87.3 percent from the free throw line, all career-highs.
In addition to his first-team all-conference honor, Mitchell received second-team All-Mountain West designation from the media who regularly cover the league and second-team All-District 17 distinction from the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC).
The 6-6, 225-pound performer helped lead the Aztecs to the 2019-20 Mountain West regular-season championship, and then for the third consecutive year to the title game of the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas. In three games in this year's tournament, Mitchell averaged 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 27.7 minutes per game.
Among Mountain West performers last year, Mitchell ranked second in free throw percentage (87.3 percent), 17th in scoring and 20th in rebounding. On a national level, he was 27th in free throw percentage.
In perhaps his finest performance of the campaign, Mitchell scored 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor (64.3 percent), 4-of-6 from the bonus distance (66.7 percent) and 6-of-6 from the line in an 80-68 win over Utah State on Feb. 1. In the game, 24 of his 28 points came in the second half and he added four rebounds, and an assist and a steal.
With 22 points in an 82-59 victory over New Mexico on Feb. 11, Mitchell became the 34th player in program history to reach 1,000-career-points and at the end of this year had amassed a career total of 1,085 points, good for 27th place on the Aztecs career scoring list. In the New Mexico game he also grabbed 12 rebounds to record the first double-double of his career.
In addition to leading the team in free throw percentage, he ranked No. 2 in points (390), rebounds (154), and steals (34) and No. 4 in assists (55) and blocks (11).
The Aztecs finished the season ranked No. 6 in the nation with a 30-2 record, including a 17-1 mark in Mountain West action. San Diego State was the only team in the nation to end the regular season with one loss and one of three teams to finish the campaign with just two losses. SDSU was also the last team in the nation to be undefeated and maintained that distinction for all or parts of 39 days, from Jan. 15 to Feb. 22. The Aztecs 17 wins and 94.4 winning percentage in Mountain West play are conference records.
In addition, the team opened the season with a 26-game win streak, the longest in the nation this year. The streak was the program's longest to open a season as well as the longest win streak in Aztec history.
Mitchell, who in three years on The Mesa averaged 11.0 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 44.0 percent from the floor, 35.8 percent from beyond the three-point line and 80.1 percent from the charity stripe, is the second Aztec to declare for the draft this year, joining Malachi Flynn who announced on April 17 that he would forego his final year of collegiate eligibility.