KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With the opening of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball just days away, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced its all-district honors and San Diego State head men's basketball coach Brian Dutcher is the District 17 Coach of the Year for the second time in as many seasons. Senior forward Matt Mitchell and senior guard Jordan Schakel were each recognized as first and second team performers, respectively.
Dutcher, who has led the Aztecs to back-to-back outright Mountain West regular-season titles, back-to-back No. 1 seeds in the Mountain West Tournament and back-to-back league Coach of the Year honors, has now added back-to-back NABC District 17 Coach of the year honors. He joins Steve Fisher, a three-time winner (2011, 2012 & 2014), as the only coaches in program history to have the honor bestowed on them and now in multiple years.
Dutcher led the 2020-21 Aztecs to a 23-4 record and his team ranked, nationally, as No. 7 in field goal percentage defense (.387), No. 8 in scoring defense (60.6), No. 12 in scoring margin (+13.5), No. 14 in total steals (233), and No. 16 in turnover margin (+3.9). Among the Mountain West teams, San Diego State led the league in turnovers forced (15.15), steals per game (8.19), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.25:1), three-point field goal percentage (.381), field goal percentage defense, scoring defense, scoring margin, turnover margin and total steals. The team's current 14-game win streak is the fourth longest in school history and it is the third of at least nine games under Dutcher.
A native of Riverside, Calif., Mitchell has been recognized by the NABC for the second year in a row, after earning second-team honors last year. Last week he became the fifth Aztec in the Mountain West era to earn league player of the year distinction, joining Brandon Heath (2006), Jamaal Franklin (2012), Xavier Thames (2014) and Malachi Flynn (2020). In addition, he was named the 2021 Mountain West Championship Tournament MVP and was a member of the all-tournament team. Mitchell is one of six players in Mountain West history to earn both Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in the same year and is the only Aztecs among the six.
He finished the regular season averaging 15.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 44.7 percent from the floor, 38.0 percent from long range, and 81.6 percent from the line. In league games, he matched his season total of 15.4 points but improved in all three shooting percentages, going 45.0 percent from the floor, 40.0 percent from the bonus distance and 85.1 percent from the charity stripe. In addition, he averaged 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals, and upped his rebounds to 6.3 per game in league play. Earning a starting assignment in 23-of-24 games in which he appeared, Mitchell scored in double figures 21 times, led the team in scoring ten times, in rebounding nine times and in assists three times.
During the season, Mitchell joined Winston Shepard and Trey Kell as just the third Aztec to score 1,000 points, grab 500 rebounds, dish out 200 assists and have 100 steals in his career. He ranks in the top-10 of 13 of the program's career categories including No. 6 points (1,454). He is in the top-15 of 16 categories and in the top-20 of 18. He won the Mountain West Player of the Week on Nov. 30, 2020 and was included on the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Preseason Watch List as well as its Midseason Final 10.
Mitchell was named a first-team All- Mountain West performer in back to back years and is the first Aztec to do that since Jamaal Franklin did in 2012 and 2013. Other Aztecs who have garnered multiple first-team All-Mountain West honors are Brandon Heath (2006 & 2007) and Kawhi Leonard (2010 & 2011).
Schakel, who was a member of the Mountain West all-tournament team and a second team All-Mountain West performer, earned his first recognition from the NABC with his second-team designation.
He was twice named Mountain West Player of the Week, which was tied for the most this season, and led the league in three-point percentage (46.7 percent), three-point field goals per game (2.89) and total three pointers made (78), and was the No. 15 scorer in the league. Schakel averaged 14.3 points (47.9 percent from the floor, 46.7 percent from long range, and 90.8 percent from the line), 4.4 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.0 assists in the 2020-21 season. The Torrance, Calif., native's three-point field goal percentage this year is the highest for a senior season in Mountain West history.
Nationally, his three-point percentage ranks No. 3, his 78 treys are No. 14 and his 2.89 threes per game are No. 22. Schakel sank eight threes against Colorado State (Jan. 4) which are the most in a game by any Mountain West player this year and a career high. He hit a three in every game (27) this season, recorded multiple three pointers in 19 games and in those contests SDSU was 17-2. Schakel made three or more treys in 15 games, four or more in nine games and five or more in four games. He is the fifth player in program history to reach and pass 200-career three pointers. Schakel scored in double figures in 20 games (SDSU was 18-2 in those contests), and in 14 games scored 15-or-more points (SDSU was 14-0 in those games). He enters the NCAA Tournament as the 35th player in program history to reach 1,000 points for his career.
San Diego State, a 6-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, is preparing for its game on Friday against 11-seed Syracuse. The game will be broadcast on CBS and will tip at approximately 9:40 p.m. ET (6:40 p.m. PT).
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