SAN DIEGO – Pharaoh Compton, a freshman forward on the No. 23-ranked San Diego State men’s basketball team has been named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week for the week ending December 8. The announcement was made from the conference’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Monday.
In a pair of victories last week, 84-62 at Fresno State in the team’s conference opener and 74-57 against San Diego, Compton averaged 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 0.5 assists and blocks per game. For the week, he shot 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from the floor, which included a 4-of-4 night at Fresno and a 6-of-9 effort against the Toreros.
Among his 9 rebounds, four came on the offensive end and three of those resulted in a bucket for the Aztecs, while his five defensive rebounds all ended the opposition’s possession with a single shot attempt.
In 10:27 of floor time at Fresno State, he went 4-of-4 from the field, 1-of-3 from the charity stripe, grabbed three boards, all on the offensive glass, and had a block. Each of his three boards were on the offensive glass and each resulted in a put back two for Compton. His block and the fouls he drew ended Bulldog possessions with either a single shot or no shot at all.
In just over 20 minutes of action against San Diego, he scored 12 points on 6-of-9 from the floor, pulled down 6 rebounds, had 2 steals, and 1 assist.
In the first half, he was 3-of-4 from the floor, grabbed two defensive boards, which ended Toreros’ possessions with one shot, and assisted on a bucket as San Diego State led by two points at the break.
In the second half, he came in and grabbed two more rebounds, limiting USD to a single shot each time and then scored three buckets, the last of which came off a steal that he took the other way for a dunk which put SDSU up by four, 48-42 with 13:31 to play. His steal at 10:12 led directly to two points from Miles Byrd and extended the Aztecs lead to 54-48. His final defensive board again ended San Diego’s possession with a single shot attempt.
This is Compton’s second Mountain West Freshman of the Week honor and the second in as many weeks. Compton is the first Aztecs to win the award, which was instituted starting in the 2021-22 season, and the first Aztec to receive the honor on two occasions.
San Diego State hosts California Baptist on Wednesday evening at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. The game is scheduled to tip at 7 p.m. and will be carried on YurView (channel 4) and streamed on the Mountain West Network.