SAN DIEGO – In conjunction with the 25th Mountain West Men's Basketball Championship, the league revealed its 25th Season Team and a conference-high five San Diego State Aztecs were included among the 25 honorees.
The SDSU players who made the list are Brandon Heath, Jamaal Franklin, Xavier Thames, Kawhi Leonard and Malachi Flynn. All but Flynn have been inducted into the Aztec Hall of Fame and three of the five: Franklin, Heath and Thames scored more than 1,000 points in Scarlet and Black.
Heath is a four-year letterwinner (2004-07) who finished his college career as the Aztecs' all-time leader in the following statistical categories: scoring, field goals, field goals attempted, three-point field goals, three-point field goals attempted, steals, games played, games started, double-digit scoring games and minutes played. He also finished among the school's all-time leaders in victories (2nd), assists (3rd), conference victories (3rd), scoring average (4th), three-point field goal percentage (10th), and rebounds (17th). Heath completed his time on The Mesa as the only player in the Division I era to rank among SDSU's top 20 players in scoring (1st), rebounding (17th) and assists (3rd). He guided SDSU to the 2006 NCAA tournament and to the second round of the 2007 NIT. SDSU's 2006 outright Mountain West title was its first in its DI era and first since 1967-68, and he was the first player in SDSU history to earn all-MW accolades all four seasons (Fr.: honorable mention, So.: second team; Jr.: player of the year and first team; Sr.: first team). In 125 career games, he recorded 112 with double-figure scoring, 54 20-point and five 30-point games. Heath led the Aztecs in scoring 60 times, in assists 45 times and rebounds nine times and was an eight-time Mountain West Player of the Week. He completed his Aztec career as the all-time Mountain West leader in scoring and steals and having scored in double figures a school-record 58 consecutive games and having started 85 straight games.
A three-year letterwinner (2011-13), Franklin went from seldom-used freshman into a two-time All-American, SDSU's first since Michael Cage. He played in three straight NCAA tournaments, including as a member of the record-setting 2010-11 club that reached the Sweet 16 and posted a 34-3 record. He was named the nation's Most Improved Player by CBSSports.com in 2012 after finishing with the second-highest improvement in points (+14.49) and rebounds (+6.96) from the previous season. In 2012 he was named Mountain West Player of the Year and finished his career as a two-time first-team all-MW performer. Franklin posted the largest scoring improvement from year No. 1 to year No. 3 among all 1,000-point scorers in Aztec history (+14.1) and scored in double figures 61 times and grabbed 10 or more rebounds 27 times. He had 26 double-doubles and led the team in scoring 38 times, rebounding 43 times and assists 21 times. In SDSU's Division I rankings, at the end of his collegiate career, he ranked No. 9 in free-throw percentage, No. 11 in rebounds, No. 13 in points and in three-point field goals and No. 16 in blocked shots.
Thames played three seasons at San Diego State (2012-14) after competing as a true freshman at Washington State. On The Mesa, he played in 97 games, starting 91 and guided SDSU to two Mountain West titles and three NCAA berths, including the Sweet 16 in 2014. Thames scored in double figures 59 times with 15 games of at least 20 points. In addition, he led the team in scoring 31 times, rebounding four times and assists 53 times. The Sacramento, Calif. native, helped the Aztecs to three seasons of 23 wins or more (26 in 2012, 23 in 2013, 31 in 2014) and upon the completion of his college career his SDSU Division I career rankings were third in free-throw percentage, fifth in free-throws, seventh in conference victories, eight in scoring, ninth in victories, 10th in assists, 10th in three-point field goals, 10th in minutes played, 11th in games started, 14th in three-point field-goal percentage, 14th in points-rebounds-assists, 15th in steals, 19th in efficiency points, 24th in scoring average. In 2014 his honors included AP Honorable Mention All-American, CBSSports.com Third-Team All-American, NCAA West Region all-tournament honoree, Mountain West Player of the Year, first-team all-conference, Mountain West all-defensive team, Mountain West all-tournament, NABC and USBWA all-district, Bob Cousy Award finalist, midseason Oscar Robertson and Naismith Trophy Watch List, three-time Mountain West Player of the Week, and two-time national player of the week.
Leonard started 69 of the 70 games in which he competed in his two seasons at San Diego State (2010-11) and finished with 64 straight starts. He led SDSU to the 2010 Mountain West Tournament title, 2011 MW regular-season title and 2011 MW Tournament title while helping the Aztecs to the 2010 NCAA Tournament and 2011 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Leonard led SDSU to its first NCAA Tournament win in school history in 2011 and earned All-American (second team by AP, Sporting News, FOXSports.com, third team by State Farm Coaches and SI.com that season becoming the program's second consensus All-American (also: Michael Cage). He logged 40 career double-doubles, which is the second most in school history behind Cage's 61 and tied Utah's Andrew Bogut for the most career double-doubles in conference history. He set the Mountain West all-time mark for career double-doubles in league games (21) and double-doubles in a single season in MW games (12). Leonard posted 56 career double-figure scoring games and 42 career double-figure rebounding efforts, including nine with 15+ boards, led the team in scoring 27 times, rebounding 43 times and assists 16 times. In 2010, he was the Mountain West Tournament MVP and a first-team selection and at the time was the only freshman in MW history to earn first-team all-conference honors. That same year he was MW Freshman of the Year, Sporting News All-Freshman second team and an NABC All-District 17 selection. He was the only freshman in the then 11-year history of the MW to earn conference player of the week accolades three times and was one of only four freshmen in Division I to lead his team in scoring and rebounding. In his sophomore campaign he was voted first-team All-MW, MW All-Tournament Team, MW All-Defensive Team, NABC All-District 17 and USBWA All-District IX teams. He was one of 10 candidates for the Naismith Award and one of 20 candidates for the Wooden Award. In SDSU's Division I career rankings at time of his departure he was second in rebound average, fifth in rebounds, seventh in consecutive games started, 14th in field-goal attempts, 16th in scoring average, 16th in games started, 18th in blocks, 19th in points, 20th in field goals and 20th in steals.
Following two years at Washington State and sitting out the 2018-19 season after transferring to San Diego State, Flynn became the most decorated Aztec in a single season. After being named a second-team All-American by The Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), United States Basketball Writers of America (USBWA) and The Sporting News, he joined Hall of Famers Michael Cage and Kawhi Leonard as the third consensus All-American in program history. In addition, he garnered second-team All-American honors from CBS Sports, NBC Sports and The Athletic and first-team distinction from Sports Illustrated and STADIUM. In 32 games in 2019-20, all starts, Flynn averaged 17.6 points (on 44.1 percent shooting, including 37.3 percent from the bonus distance, and 85.7 from the free throw line), 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. He added 56 steals and three blocks in 1,072 total minutes on the floor. An NABC first-team All-District 17 performer, he reached double figures 31 times and in the lone game in which he was in single digits, he scored nine points. The Most Valuable Player of both the Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational and Basketball Hall of Fame Classic totaled at least 15 points 22 times, at least 20 points nine times and at least 30 points once. Flynn led the team in scoring 21 times, in assists 21 times and rebounds four times. The second Aztec to be named to the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year, Naismith National Player of the Year and Lute Olson National Player of the Year Awards, Flynn was the 2019-20 Mountain West Player of the Year and a first-team All-Mountain West performer in both the coaches and media polls. He earned the coaches poll Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and the media poll Mountain West Newcomer of the Year, in addition to twice being named Mountain West Player of the Week. Among Mountain West performers, Flynn ranked first in assists, assist-to-turnover ratio and steals, third in scoring and free throw percentage, fifth in field goal percentage and three-point field goals and eighth in minutes. Nationally was 14th in assist-to-turnover ratio, 43rd in free throw percentage and assists, 48th in steals, 50th in assists per game, 76th in points, 79th in steals per game, 93rd in points per game, 94th in three-point field goal attempts, and 95th in three-point field goals, in addition to appearances in eight additional categories.