From the hardwood to the football field, San Diego State athletics have come back into the spotlight.
New announcements for the 2020-21 men’s and women’s basketball season were announced on Tuesday as well as changes to this week’s football broadcast and another former Aztec has joined the Toronto Raptors.
Here are all the headlines from this week in Aztec sports.
Malachi Flynn heads to “The Six” after getting drafted in first round
Former SDSU men’s basketball star and 2020 Mountain West player of the year Malachi Flynn was taken by the Toronto Raptors as the 28th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Although Flynn played just one season donning the Scarlet and Black, he leaves having led the Aztecs to their first Mountain West Conference regular season title since 2016 and the school’s best start in program history (26-0).
Flynn was named a consensus second-team All-American to go along with first-team all-conference and MWC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2020.
The Tacoma, Wash. native became the first Aztec to get drafted in the first round since former Toronto Raptor and 2019 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard was drafted 11th overall in the 2011 draft.
The 6-foot-1 guard joins a franchise that features the 2020 NBA head coach of the year Nick Nurse and all-star guard Kyle Lowry.
SDSU men’s basketball gets new schedule release
Men’s basketball is just over a week away from making its return with the release of the upcoming season’s schedule on Tuesday.
SDSU announced the new schedule for the Aztec men’s team for the 2020-21 season. The 25-game season will include at least five non-conference games and 20 games against Mountain West opponents.
The Scarlet and Black will open play with home games against UCLA on Nov. 25 and UC Irvine on Nov. 27 before getting their conference season started.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Mountain West Conference schedule will have teams play two-game series during the same week at the same site to reduce travel for teams.
The Aztecs will begin their journey as the reigning Mountain West regular season champions with games at Viejas Arena versus Colorado State on Dec. 3 and Dec. 5.
Non-conference games will fill most of the remaining schedule in the month of December. SDSU will travel to play Arizona State on Dec. 10 and to Saint Mary’s on Dec. 22. They will stay at home on Dec. 18 to play against rival BYU.
The Mountain West Championship tournament is scheduled for March 10-13 in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center. A year ago, SDSU failed to win the conference tournament despite securing the regular season title with a 30-2 record.
Women’s basketball learns new schedule
Just as the men’s team learned its newly-modified schedule for 2020-21, so did San Diego State women’s basketball.
Similarly, the Aztecs’ women’s team will play in a modified schedule. They will also play their Mountain West opponents in two series during the same week and at the same site.
The 2020-21 season tips off for the Aztecs in Las Vegas against Washington on Nov. 25 as a part of the South Point Thanksgiving Classic.
The Aztecs will play Lamar on Nov. 28 in their only other game in the South Point Thanksgiving Classic.
A home contest against University of San Diego is scheduled as the last game before the MW conference schedule begins for SDSU.
Women’s basketball will begin its 20-game conference schedule on Dec. 8 on the road against Colorado State.
Following that road stint, SDSU will return home for its first conference game at Viejas Arena to play UNLV on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2.
A road trip to Boise State on Feb. 24 and Feb. 26 will wrap up the regular season for the Aztecs.
The Mountain West tournament is scheduled for March 7 through March 10 in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Aztec football set to play on national TV
The last time SDSU football played in a nationally-televised game was back in 2008 against Notre Dame on NBC.
Now, the Aztecs (3-1) will return to the national spotlight this Saturday after their game against Nevada (4-0) was moved from CBS Sports Network to CBS. The switch to the national broadcast comes after the SEC matchup between Texas A&M and Ole Miss was postponed due to the coronavirus.
While the Nevada Wolf Pack has the third-ranked passing offense in the nation, the Aztecs’ will come into Saturday’s contest with the second-best ranked defense in the country.
SDSU is coming off a 34-10 home win over Hawaii on Nov. 14.
Junior running back Greg Bell led the way for the Aztecs’ offense with 160 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Bell now leads the team with 534 rushing yards and is averaging 134 rushing yards per game.
Meanwhile, the Aztecs’ defense held the Rainbow Warriors to just 270 yards of total offense on Saturday.
