SAN DIEGO – The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday that the men's basketball programs at San Diego State and Saint Mary's College will compete on Dec. 10, 2022, at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., in the 2022 Jerry Colangelo Classic. The announcement was made from the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
The matchup, the second in as many years at this event, will be the 14th overall since the series began in the 1960-61 season. San Diego State holds a 7-6 advantage in the 13 games which have been played and has won four of the last five meetings, including a 63-53 victory in the 2021 Jerry Colangelo Classic.
The meeting will be the fifth on a neutral court with the team locked in a 2-2 tie in the all-time series in that category. Saint Mary's won the first pair of games, with SDSU having won the last two, the aforementioned game in last year's Jerry Colangelo Classic, and a 74-49 win at Cal Poly's Mott Gym on Dec. 22, 2020. The Aztecs' 25-point win in San Luis Obispo matched the Gaels' worst non-conference loss since a 25-point defeat, 80-55, at Southern Illinois on Dec. 31, 2000.
In each of their way-too-early-top-25, Seth Davis, Andy Katz and Jon Rothstein had the Aztecs ranked No. 22, No. 23 and No. 25 for 2022-23 and late last month, ESPN's Jeff Borzello had SDSU ranked No. 19 and Sports Illustrated slotted San Diego State in at No. 14.
Tickets for the 2022 Jerry Colangelo Classic will go on pre-sale on Monday, July 25 and will be on-sale on Tuesday, July 26. Tickets will be available to purchase online at ticketmaster.com and in-person at the Footprint Center Box Office. Game times and television broadcast details will be released at a later date.
San Diego State returns fifth-year seniors Nathan Mensah, Adam Seiko, Aguek Arop, and Matt Bradley in 2022-23, and four-fifths of its starting line up from a team that went 23-9 last year. In 2021-22, San Diego State appeared in the championship game of the Mountain West tournament for the fifth consecutive year and competed in the NCAA tournament for the second straight season.
In addition to the aforementioned players, San Diego State returns starters Lamont Butler and Keshad Johnson as well as newcomers Jaedon LeDee, who sat out the 2021-22 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Darrion Trammell, a transfer from Seattle U., Micah Parrish, a transfer from Oakland, and freshmen Miles Byrd and Elijah Saunders.
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