The college basketball off-season has become a chaotic sprint, and San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher is right in the middle of the storm. With the NCAA transfer portal wide open and NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) deals influencing player movement more than ever, the Aztecs are facing yet another spring of roster rebuilding.
So far, four SDSU players have announced they’ve entered the transfer portal — a list headlined by starting point guard Nick Boyd and Mountain West Freshman of the Year Magoon Gwath. Forward Demarshay Johnson Jr. and walk-on guard Cam Lawin have also joined them. Gwath announced on April 1 that he’d be removing his name from the transfer portal and entering the NBA draft process while maintaining his college eligibility. If he returns to college play, it will be at San Diego State.
The college basketball world — one ruled by free agency-style transfer rules and open-market NIL bidding — has changed the way teams like SDSU build and maintain rosters. Dutcher, known for his loyalty-based culture and developmental approach, now finds himself balancing X’s and O’s with negotiations and donor dollars.
Boyd, who had publicly indicated his desire to return next season, changed course shortly after the Aztecs’ NCAA Tournament exit.
“I was intending to have Nick back next year,” Dutcher said in a radio interview with Jon & Jim on San Diego Sports 760 on March 26. “But when all of a sudden you have a chance to maybe make more money playing basketball in one year than you will the rest of your career, then you say, ‘Okay, I understand why he may have left.’”
“There are players in our program right now that could leave in a heartbeat for more money,” Dutcher said. “But they choose to remain here because they love it here… sometimes all that money does not equate happiness or future prospects.”
Still, the pull of big NIL deals continues to test that loyalty, forcing programs like SDSU to compete not just on the court but in the financial arena. Dutcher believes a more equitable system is overdue.
“Do I think [the NIL money] is exorbitant and too much? Yes,” he said. “And that’s why some of these lawsuits are working their way through. I think there’ll be some leveling — some type of salary cap — that’ll be put into place. We’re just not throwing enormous sums of money at everybody.”
For now, SDSU is relying on the generosity of its community. A matching campaign through the Mesa Foundation is helping to fund retention efforts and future NIL packages. Dutcher called it “everything” in terms of keeping the program competitive.
“We have to be competitive financially,” he said. “We’re not going to ever have as much as some of [the power conference schools], but we have to have enough where they trust in us to put a really good team together.”
Despite the recent losses, the Aztecs still return a solid core, assuming that the second-team All-Mountain West selection, Miles Byrd, doesn’t turn pro. Other key returners include Reese Waters, BJ Davis, Taj DeGourville, and developing big men Miles Heide and Pharaoh Compton. Seven-foot redshirt freshman Thokbor Majak and incoming freshman Tae Simmons round out a group that could form the base of next year’s team.
But that base needs bolstering. The Aztecs have five open scholarships, and Dutcher is eyeing four transfers — including a bruising rebounder to replace Gwath and a point guard or two, depending on how DeGourville is utilized.
“We’re evaluating every day. We’re watching tape of 800 kids,” Dutcher said. “I feel like I’ve got a kid added. I don’t want to say anything yet. I’ve got another kid visiting. We’re proactive. We’re working.”
And yet, uncertainty lingers. Last season, forward Elijah Saunders left just days before the portal closed, taking an estimated $400,000 deal at Virginia. Dutcher knows more surprises could come before the April 22 deadline.
With the Mountain West already decimated by graduation and transfer movement — eight of the 15 all-conference players are out of eligibility, and five more are in the portal — SDSU is still ahead of the curve in terms of roster construction. The coaching staff is moving quickly to avoid being left behind.
“We are building a team that everyone’s going to get behind and be excited about,” Dutcher said. “Nobody wants to see a player leave. But you have to move forward. If I sat there and cried about it, I wouldn’t be doing my job.”
The daunting realities of the disadvantage Dutcher faces were revealed through a release of finances generated by SDSU sports teams in the years following the implementation of NIL.
According to records released by SDSU, from the time period of July 7, 2024, to Jan. 8, 2025, the men’s basketball team gathered a total of $1,564 dollars in reported deals.
The lack of funneling finances into the system has only grown stronger since the team’s Cinderella run to the National Championship in 2023. For perspective, from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, the team brought in a total of $219,450 in NIL deals.
The $219,450 is the highest sum of money generated by the team throughout the course of a season since athletes began receiving compensation. Not only that, the amount is the highest amount of money a team has collected in NIL deals in the school’s history by well over $100,000. The next closest is the football team from July 1, 2024, to Jan. 8, 2025, generating $71,586.
Dutcher, adjusting to the modern-day reality of collegiate basketball, is immediately rebuilding his roster through the portal.
The Aztecs received their first commitment on Monday, with former Wyoming Cowboy forward Jeremiah Oden posting on his Instagram repping a Scarlet and Black No. 25 jersey. Oden, a 6-foot-9 forward, comes to the Mesa with one year of eligibility left, averaging 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in his career.
Oden has familiarity with San Diego State after competing in the Mountain West for three years, averaging 13 points in his five career games against the Aztecs.
The second commitment came shortly after, with former Louisiana Tech guard Sean Newman Jr. posting a picture in an SDSU jersey to his Instagram. Newman was one of the nation’s leaders in assists for the 2024-2025 season, the likely replacement for Boyd.
With two strong commitments coming early in the portal process, how the rest of the roster will shape out is yet to be determined, with Dutcher and his coaching staff continually navigating through a new era of collegiate sports.
