Against Fresno State on Thursday, San Diego State will be honoring five seniors in a pre-game ceremony.
Those who will be honored will be Trey Pulliam, Aguek Arop, Joshua Tomaic, Tahirou Diabate and Nathan Mensah.
Matt Bradley and Adam Seiko — who are also seniors — are not on that list. Instead, they’ll be coming back for one more year.
“I’m excited to make this announcement today, so I can concentrate on competing in tournament play throughout March with my team,” Bradley said to goaztecs.com. “Basketball has always been a tool in my life to get me in contact with many amazing people and amazing opportunities, one of those opportunities being receiving a college degree. Being Black with higher education is important in America. And I plan on fulfilling my lifelong dream of graduating.”
Bradley has been an offensive anchor for the Aztecs, averaging 17.2 points per game while dropping a season-high 30 points against Wyoming on Feb. 28. While he faced an adjusting period to SDSU’s offensive and defensive system after transferring from Cal, he has settled in nicely to become SDSU’s lead scorer.
Seiko, meanwhile, is head coach Brian Dutcher’s main “3 and D” player off the bench. A member of the team since the 2017-2018 season, Seiko has started seven games this season and is second on the team in 3-point shooting, one point behind Bradley at 41.7 percent.
But if they are seniors, how come they get an extra year of eligibility? Simple, that’s because the NCAA granted all athletes an extra “COVID year” after the loss of the 2019-2020 season.
As of now, it is unknown whether any of the other seniors on SDSU’s roster will be taking an extra year of eligibility. Two of those players, Pulliam and Tomaic, have already taken their extra year of eligibility so they will be on their way out. Diabate has also made hints of playing professional basketball after this season as well.
Aztec fans are also waiting on word from Mensah and Arop on where they will be heading after this season. Mensah is one of the main reasons that SDSU has the No. 1 ranked defense in the nation according to KenPom while Arop has been battered with various injuries throughout the year.
However, for at least one more season, it appears that two of the top scorers donning the Scarlet and Black will be back on the Mesa for one more ride.
