SAN DIEGO – Terrell Gomez has signed a Grant-In-Aid which make him the newest member of the San Diego State men's basketball program, head coach Brian Dutcher announced today. The 5-8, 160-pound guard who spent his first three seasons at CSUN will be immediately eligible to compete for the Aztecs in the 2020-21 season.
"Terrell has a toughness and grit about him that I really like," Dutcher, the 2020 Mountain West Coach of the Year, said. "Last year in (Big West Conference) play he shot 53 percent from three which is unbelievable. And in each of the last two years he has hit over 100 threes, so he is without questions one of the best shooters in the country. CSUN ran a different offense from us so he didn't play off a lot of ball screens but with his size and quickness, I'd like to see what he can do off them. I think the sky is the limit for him and I can't wait for him to join our program."
A native of Los Angeles, Gomez has been 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, he 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. He reached double figure scoring in 31-of-32 games, scored 20 or more points 15 times, and passed 30 points on three occasions. He owns the CSUN record for career three-pointers (293) and left the program ranked fourth in points (1,637) and field goals (542) as well as seventh in starts (96) and minutes (3,492).
For the season, Gomez hit at least three treys in a game 22 times, finished with at least four threes in a game 17 times and knocked down seven shots from the bonus distance in two contests. In conference action, he made three-point shots at a 52.9 percent clip while averaging 18.4 points per game. In perhaps his finest performance of the year, he scored a career-high 33 points, on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor, which included 7-of-11 from distance and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe, grabbed five rebounds, had three assists and a steal in 33 minutes.
As a sophomore, he averaged 19.2 points per game and finished second in scoring in the Big West. He led the conference in three-point field goals (117) and minutes per game (37.7), which each ranked No. 8 nationally. His 117 treys set the program's single season record and were the sixth most in Big West history. He surpassed 1,000 career points in the final game of the year, becoming the third-fastest player in program history to reach the milestone, doing so in his 64th collegiate game. His 652 points scored in the 2018-19 season are the second most in 61 years of Matador men's basketball. He was No. 3 in the Big West in free throw percentage (.877), No. 5 in three-point percentage (.419) and No. 10 in assists (2.8/g).
Gomez started each of the team's 34 games and scored in double figures 32 times. He totaled at least 20 points 19 times and 30 or more points three times and hit at least four threes in 18 games, at least five in 13 games and a season-high seven treys once.
During his freshman campaign, he received a starting assignment in each of the team's 30 games while averaging 11.7 points, a career-best 3.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds. He led the Big West in three-point percentage (.461) and minutes per game (31.4) while ranking seventh in assists (109). In league play, he upped his numbers to 12.6 points per game and ranked third in assists, at 4.1 per outing, while knocking down free throws at an 89.2 percent clip. Also, during that campaign, he posted his lone career double double with 10 points and 10 assists against UC Davis (2-1-18). Gomes reached double figure scoring 18 times, including three games with 20 or more points. He finished the season with, at that time, the second-highest three-point shooting percentage (.461) and fifth most three-point field goals in a single season in program history.
Prior to enrolling at CSUN, Gomez spent a gap year at Middlebrooks Academy and took classes at East Los Angeles College after graduating from Inglewood (Calif.) High School where he competed for three of his four years at the varsity level. At Inglewood, Gomez earned Daily Breeze all-area honors as a junior and senior, was a three-time All-Bay League selection as well as the league's Most Outstanding Player in 2015 and was named to the All-CIF Division I-AA Team in 2014.
This past season, the Aztecs won their conference-leading 12th Mountain West championship, finished with a 30-2 record and the No. 6 ranking in the nation. The team's 26-game winning streak to start the season is a program record to open a campaign as well as the longest win streak in program history. San Diego State opened Mountain West play with 13-straight wins and completed the conference slate 17-1, both numbers are program and league records.
The last unbeaten team in the nation for more than a month, SDSU is expected to return starters Matt Mitchell, Jordan Schakel and Nathan Mensah, as well as significant contributors Aguek Arop, Adam Seiko and Trey Pulliam. Gomez joins incoming freshmen Lamont Butler, Keith Dinwiddie Jr., and Che Evans as new faces in the 2020-21 season.
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