Thousands sat glued to the jumbotron as Lamont Butler dribbled the ball up the court.
A few seconds left on the clock and the chance to send SDSU’s men’s basketball team to the National Championship. Butler sank his mid range jumper, and the crowd was sent into a frenzy.
No.
This wasn’t the thousands that sat in NRG Stadium in Houston nor was it the ones who remained back at Viejas Arena in San Diego.
This was the Snapdragon Stadium crowd during the Aztec basketball team’s celebration on April 8, reliving the moments that made this season so special.
From the Aztecs’ raining a Viejas-high 19 threes against Occidental College on Dec. 2, 2022 to Butler’s game-winning 3-pointer in New Mexico and from the Mountain West Tournament win in Las Vegas all the way to the huge win over the overall No. 1 seed Alabama.
Plenty of magical moments replayed through the big screen as the crowd rejoiced in the beauty of SDSU’s historic season.
“This is a reward for all of us and for all of the guys that have played before,” head coach Brian Dutcher said.
The lengthy 35-inch wide red carpet was rolled out for the players who came off the bus 1-by-1. Fans crowded as the Aztecs handled media interviews before walking down the long carpet from outside-to-inside the stadium.
Matt Bradley dressed in Young Thug’s clothing brand, Spider, with his celebrity Morkie (Maltese Yorkie), Penny, garnered plenty of attention. Keshad Johnson brought out three sets of gold chains, some rings and Alexander McQueen kicks while Nathan Mensah stunted with his usual hat-shoe combo.
“I’m trying to grow my hat collection to match with my shoes,” Mensah told The Daily Aztec. “I tried to keep it going today, I decided to do a green and a green… so I’m getting there.”
The players were all reintroduced on the field following their red carpet entrance. Fire and other pyrotechnics blazed down the pathway as the entire staff and team strutted to the on-field platform. The loudest cheers echoed for Butler, Dutcher and 10th year assistant coach Mark Fisher who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in 2011.
Aguek Arop strode in with the South Regional Title in hand followed by Keshad Johnson holding the Mountain West tournament trophy and Mensah with the regular season one.
The event took place at Snapdragon in anticipation of a crowd larger than Viejas Arena’s 12,414 capacity.
“We had 27,000 tickets out but we don’t know how many that is because you can get up to six tickets free,” Senior Associate Athletic Director of Communications & Media Relations, Jamie McConeghy said. “So we thought it was better to go somewhere where we would have room as opposed to Viejas where it would fill up.”
A selection of speakers were present from radio host on San Diego Sports 760, Jon Schaeffer hosting the event, to director of athletics JD Wicker followed by plenty more notable San Diegans.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors chairwoman, and SDSU alum, Nora Vargas named April 8th ‘SDSU Basketball Day’ for the team’s outstanding leadership, service and commitment to the community while Mayor Todd Gloria joined in with his own contribution, gifting Dutcher and the men’s basketball team the keys to the city.
SDSU president Adela de la Torre also hinted at the possibility of switching conferences when thanking Wicker for his hard work and dedication to the program.
Former Aztec head coach Steve Fisher had a chance on the podium as well, naming this a “historical moment for San Diego sports.”
Highlights throughout the season played as Johnson, Arop, Bradley and Butler filled in between with heartfelt speeches.
Johnson’s speech, unsurprisingly, was met with chants of “One more year, one more year!”
Aztec sportscaster Ted Leitner, who spoke towards the middle of the ceremony, left the crowd with one phrase they’ll never forget, a phrase he’s been saying for the majority of the last 44 years he’s been covering the Aztecs, and especially after a historic season like this one — the phrase seems quite fitting.
“How ‘bout them Aztecs?”
