INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Wait a day and San Diego State senior forward Matt Mitchell will garner another accolade for his play this season. On Thursday, Basketball Times announced its Honors List and Mitchell garnered inclusion on the publications West Coast All-District Team. It is the ninth honor the Riverside, Calif., native has received since the start of the Mountain West tournament on March 11.
Mitchell finished the regular season averaging 15.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists while shooting 43.7 percent from the floor, 36.1 percent from long range and 81.5 percent from the line. In Mountain West games, he was even more impressive. His scoring average held steady at 15.4 points, but he upped his shooting percentages to 45.0 percent from the floor, including 40.0 percent from distance, and 85.1 percent from the free throw line. Earning starting assignments in 23 of the 24 games in which he appeared, he scored in double figures 21 times, led the team in scoring ten times and in rebounds nine 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). In addition, he is in the top-15 of 16 career categories and in the top-20 of 18. Mitchell was named 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.
Earlier this week, Mitchell was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press, the 10th Aztec to be recognized by the AP with All-American designation. He is the second Aztec in as many years to earn All-American status from the AP, joining 2020 second-team honoree Malachi Flynn. His honorable mention designation is the sixth by an SDSU player since San Diego State Hall of Famer Al Skalecky earned the program's first award in 1967. In addition to Skalecky, Hall of Famer Michael Cage (1983), Brandon Heath (2006), Jamaal Franklin (2012 & 2013) and Xavier Thames (2014) have previously earned honorable mention honors from the news organization.
Also, earlier this week Mitchell was named a United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District IX and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) first-team All-District 17 performer.
Mitchell's recognition from the NABC was his second in as many years, after earning second-team honors last year. He was one of 10 student-athletes included on the 2020-21 USBWA All-District IX Team. District IX covers the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona, and Alaska. The recognition is even more significant, since the Aztecs did not play a game in four of the six states which make up District IX.
Mitchell took home the 13th USBWA All-District team honor for the program since the 2001 season. He joined two-time honorees Randy Holcomb (2001 & 2002), Brandon Heath (2006 & 2007) and Kawhi Leonard (2010 & 2011) as well as Tony Bland (2003), Aerick Sanders (2004), Marcus Slaughter (2006), Jamaal Franklin (2012), Xavier Thames (2014), and Malachi Flynn (2020).
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). He then added the 2021 Mountain West Tournament MVP to his trophy case and was a member of the all-tournament team. He is one of six players in Mountain West history to earn both Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in the same season, and is the only Aztecs among the six.
In addition to his Player of the Year distinction, he was named a first-team All- Mountain West performer for the second time in two years. He is the first Aztec to do that since Jamaal Franklin 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). Finally, he earned inclusion on the conference All-Defensive team.
Matt Mitchell 2020-21 Honors
Associated Press honorable-mention All-American
NABC first-team All-District 17
USBWA All-District IX
Basketball Times' West Coast All-District
Mountain West Player of the Year
First-team All-Mountain West
Mountain West All-Defensive Team
Mountain West Tournament MVP
Mountain West All-Tournament Team
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).
-SDSU-