SAN DIEGO – In what is one of the first major preseason predictions for the 2020-21 men's basketball season, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports and host of the podcast College Hoops Today with Jon Rothstein has selected San Diego State as the favorite to win the Mountain West Conference championship and earn a bid the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Rothstein made his announcement on Twitter on Monday and spoke with Head Coach Brian Dutcher later this morning on his podcast.
Rothstein felt the title should be the Aztecs if the team "…just stays the course." And in returning three of its top six scorers from last year (Matt Mitchell, Jordan Schakel and Nathan Mensah) and the addition of graduate transfer Terrell Gomez, SDSU has enough to win the league and advance to the postseason.
"I feel (sorry) for our seniors last season, who never had a chance to go (to the NCAA Tournament), but we return a big part of that team (this year). So, our focus is to make up for lost ground, try to have another great year and get to the dance," Dutcher told Rothstein.
When asked about his team for the upcoming season, Dutcher said, "I see a veteran team again, which I love. We have five seniors on the roster led by Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel, who are both program guys. We have made great progress in adding fifth-year seniors in Terrell Gomez and Joshua Tomaić. We have senior Trey Pulliam back, who was a very good point guard for us and juniors Adam Seiko, Aguek Arop and Nathan Mensah. So, we have great veteran leadership and usually, in the Mountain West, that means great success."
Mitchell is included among Rothstein's picks for preseason All-Mountain West honors. The senior, who was selected by the league's coaches as a first-team All-Mountain West performer in 2019-20, 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 three-point range and 87.3 percent from the free throw line, all career-highs. The native of Riverside, Calif., earned second-team All-Mountain West designation from the media who regularly cover the league and second-team All-District 17 distinction from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Among last year's Mountain West performers, Mitchell ranked second in free throw percentage, No. 17 in scoring and No. 20 in rebounding.
"Matt has been working out on his own (due to the pandemic), and looks in great shape," Dutcher said. "I'm expecting great things from him, not only as a scorer, but the truly greats are great playmakers. I want to see that part of Matt's game grow."
Both graduate transfers who will compete for the Aztecs in 2020-21, Gomez and Tomaić, were selected by Rothstein as among the most impactful transfers in the league this year. Gomez, a native of Los Angeles, was a first-team All-Big West performer in each of the last two seasons and was the league's Freshman of the Year in 2017-18. Over three seasons at CSUN, he averaged 17.1 points, 2.9 assists and 2.3 rebounds, while shooting 44.2 percent from the floor, 43.6 percent from three-point range and 89.0 percent from the free throw line.
Last season, Gomez led the nation with a .948 free throw percentage (109-of-115), was No. 5 in three-point field goals (111), No. 6 in three-point field goals per game (3.47/g), No. 8 in three-point field goal percentage (44.0) and No. 23 in scoring (634 points). He paced the Matadors and the Big West in points per game (19.8), field goals (207), three-point field goal and free throw percentage. Gomez reached double figure scoring in 31-of-32 games, scored 20 or more points 15 times, and passed 30 points on three occasions. He left CSUN holding the record for career three-pointers (293) and ranked fourth in points (1,637) and field goals (542) as well as seventh in starts (96) and minutes (3,492).
"(Gomez) is a dynamic scorer who can shoot the ball with anyone in the country," Dutcher told Rothstein. "He can stretch the defense and hopefully we will give him more opportunities to play off more ball screens and grow his game."
Owning a 7-1 wingspan, Tomaić redshirted his freshman season at Maryland. In his four seasons as a Terrapin, the team reached the postseason in 2017 and 2019 and posted a 1-2 record in the NCAA Tournament. He played a critical role in the team's 2019-20 Big Ten regular-season championship and was anticipating participating in the 2020 NCAA Tournament before it was canceled. In his time as a Terrapin, Tomaić appeared in 62 games, including two starts, and was successful on 62.7 percent of his career field goal attempts, with a single season best of 72.7 percent last season. From beyond the three-point line he is a career 38.8 percent shooter which includes hitting 7-of-15 from distance (46.7 percent) in 2017-18.
"Joshua, coming from a great program like Maryland, has the size and strength, and has been tested at the highest level not only in games, but in practice every day. So, he brings that maturity you want in a fifth-year senior."
Finally, two of the top-5 freshmen in the league reside on the San Diego State roster, Che Evans and Lamont Butler.
Butler, a graduate of Riverside (Calif.) Poly High School, was rated as a four-star recruit by ESPN and three-star talent by Rivals.com and 247Sports.com. He was named one of the class of 2020's top-50 point guards nationally by ESPN (No. 30). A four-time All-Ivy League and all-state performer and a three-time all-county and all-CIF selection, in his sophomore and senior seasons, he and his team reached the CIF Championship game. Butler passed NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller and Poly's all-time leading scorer with more than 1,800-career points.
Evans, a four-star recruit according to ESPN and Scout.com and a Rivals.com and 247Sports.com three-star talent, was named one of the class of 2020's top-50 small forwards nationally by ESPN (No. 45), Rivals.com (No. 49) and 247Sports.com (No. 38). As a senior, he was a member of the Neumann-Goretti High School team in Philadelphia, which posted a 24-4 record, 14-2 in conference play and won the Philadelphia Catholic League championship. As a junior, while a member of Dulaney High School in Baltimore, Md., averaged 20.5 points, eight rebounds and six assists per game and led the team to the Class 4A North Region championship.
Jon Rothstein Picks SDSU To Win MW Title In 2020-21
