SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men’s basketball guards Nick Boyd and Miles Byrd and forward Magoon Gwath earned postseason recognition from the coaches and media members who regularly cover the Mountain West, it was announced from the league office in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Tuesday morning.
Boyd is a second-team performer as is Byrd, who also added inclusion on the Mountain West All-Defensive Team. Gwath is the conference’s Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, an honorable mention All-Mountain West performer and a member of the All-Defensive Team.
Boyd, a 6-3 transfer from FAU in his first season on The Mesa, leads the team in scoring (13.2 ppg), assists (116), defensive rebounds (100), free throw attempts (115), free throws (87), field goal attempts (300), field goals made (124), and minutes (866). He is second in 3-pointers made (47), 3-point attempts (135), 3-point field goal percentage (.348) and is third in steals (30) and free throw percentage (.575). Among Mountain West performers he ranks No. 6 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.27:1), No. 7 in assists (4.0/game), No. 12 in free throw percentage, and No. 13 in scoring & 3-point field goals made (1.62/game). Nationally, his assist-to-turnover ratio ranks No. 76. Boyd has reached double figure scoring in 20-of-29 games, and has led the squad in points 12 times, in rebounds five times and assists 16 times.
Boyd, who surpassed the 1,000-career point milestone a few weeks ago, is one of two players in the nation, since February 11, to average at least 17.0 points per game on a minimum of 50.0 percent shooting from the floor, 38.5 percent from distance, and has at least 38 assists and 6 steals in 249 minutes or less. The other is Duke’s Cooper Flagg. In addition, he is the only active player who stands no taller than 6-3, to have scored at least 1,090 career points while shooting a minimum of 42.2 percent from the floor in no more than 367 field goals made and has dished out at least 298 assists. Finally, Boyd is one of 1-of-3 active players who have at least 298 assists and no more than 140 turnovers in no more than 117 games since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
Byrd, a 6-7 wing, paces the Aztecs in steals (60), 3-point attempts (168), 3-pointers made (52), free throw percentage (.824), and defensive rebounds (100). He is second in scoring (13.2 ppg), field goal attempts (299), field goals made (116), free throw attempts (91), free throws made (75), assists (78), and blocks (29). In the Mountain West, he ranks No. 2 in steals (2.29/game), No. 5 in free throw percentage, No. 9 in 3-point field goals, No. 13 in defensive rebounds (3.57/g), No. 14 in scoring and No. 19 in rebounding (4.5/game). Nationally, he ranks No. 26 in steals per game (2.14) and No. 45 in steals. Byrd has scored in double figures in 19-of-28 appearances with two double-digit rebounding games and his first collegiate double double at UNLV on March 4. In total, he has topped the team in points nine times, rebounds five times and assists six times.
One of the final 10 players who were vying for the Julius Erving Award for the top small forward in the nation, Byrd is the only player in the nation who is shooting a minimum of .390 from the field, .309 from distance, .824 from the line with at least 78 assists, 60 steals and 29 blocks in 2024-25. Against Colorado State on January 14, he became the first player in Mountain West history and one of three in the nation in the last 16 years to have scored 25 points, including five 3-pointers, with seven steals and six rebounds in a game. Additionally, he became just the second player in NCAA Division I basketball over the last 10 seasons (since 2014-15), and the first Aztec since at least 1996-97, to record at least 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 blocks in the same game, which he accomplished it against UC San Diego in the regular season opener.
Gwath, a 7-0 redshirt freshman, is a classic San Diego State rim protector however he brings so much more. Gwath can handle the ball, score from three levels and run the floor in addition to his defensive prowess. This is the eighth time an Aztec has earned the honor as Defensive Player of the Year and fourth time in the last four years. Gwath is the fifth San Diego State player to be named Mountain West Freshman of the Year, and the first since Jeremy Hemsley earned the distinction in 2016.
He leads the Aztecs in blocked shots (66), is second in rebounds (131) and offensive boards (47). Among Mountain West players, he leads the league in blocked shots (2.64/game), is No. 6 in offensive boards and No. 12 in rebounding. Nationally, he ranks No. 7 in blocks per game and No. 17 in blocked shots. He totaled eight double figure scoring games, five double figure rebounding games with four double doubles. His six blocks against Boise State are the most since Nathan Mensah swatted as many against Saint Mary’s on December 22, 2020, and are one off the program’s single-game freshman record set by Leonard Allen against Cal State Los Angeles on December 8, 1981. Gwath has led the Aztecs in scoring seven times, in rebounds 10 times and in assists once.
The Euless, Texas native became the program’s freshman blocks leader when he passed Skylar Spencer’s previous record of 51 blocks in 34 games, in just 22 games. He currently ranks No. 7 on the program’s single season list. Gwath is the only player in the nation who stands at least 7-0, has blocked at least 66 shots and is shooting at least 37.2 percent from beyond the arc, on a minimum of 43 attempts. Entering the Mountain West Tournament, he is 26 blocks ahead of the next closest league freshman and 17 ahead of the next closest player in the league…period.
Earlier this season at Nevada, Gwath was 7-of-7 from the field, including 1-of-1 from beyond the arc, for game-high 15 points and career and game-high 13 rebounds. He is the first Aztec to record a double-double shooting 1.000 percent from the floor since Roy Kruiswyk was (6-of-6) in a 13 pt/10 reb double-double against SMU on Jan. 15, 1998. In addition, he is the 12th player in Mountain West history to have double-doubles with a perfect shooting night, minimum of 7 field goal attempts, but if you include his successful 3-pointer, he is the only player in league history to accomplish the feat.
San Diego State, the 4-seed in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament, plays 5-seed Boise State on Thursday, March 13 at 2:30 p.m. PT at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.