It’s been a long road in search of success for San Diego Statemen’s basketball.
Four straight losing seasons. No NCAA Tournament appearances sincethe 1984-85 campaign. A record of 95 wins and 184 losses since thebeginning of the 1990-91 season, and just one winning year in thelast 15.
The list goes on and on. Just thinking about the program has givenstudents, fans and alumni a headache that even Excedrin can’t seem tokick.
Butthings are changing for the better in year two of the Steve FisherEra. The light at the end of the tunnel now seems within reach.
“Our goal is to see a team that is competitive,” said Fisher,SDSU’s head coach. “I think it’s realistic, which means we’ll have achance to win some games. How many wins that’s going to mean, I don’tknow. But people won’t be leaving with five or 10 minutes to go.”
Seven newcomers will don the new Aztec uniforms this season — asthe team attempts to help its fans forget about troubles past.
Gone is the team that suffered a 73-45 humiliation at the hands ofits cross-town rivals, USD. Gone is the group that went 0-for-14 inits first season in the Mountain West Conference. Gone is all thepromise that surrounded the “Emerald Eight” recruiting class of 1998,a group that won just nine times in its last 54 tries.
Frontcourt
Without a doubt the frontcourt is the focal point of SDSU’sattack. Leading the charge for the Aztecs is junior college transferRandy Holcomb. The 6-foot-9 forward transferred from Los AngelesCommunity College where he averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds a game.
“Randy comes in as our most highly-touted recruit,” Fisher said.”He is an athlete with a nice blend of inside-outside skills. Heshould be, without question, one of the better players in theMountain West Conference.”
Translation: Holcomb can do it all.
Whether it’s hoisting three-point shots, making a pass or drivingthe lane for a dunk, Holcomb is the most diverse athlete to takecourt for SDSU in a long time.
Holcomb’s presence should boost the play of Myron Epps, lastseason’s leading scorer (14.4 points per game). Over his first twoseasons, Epps has averaged 13 points, nearly six rebounds a gameandhe’s hit 49.7 percent of his shots.
“I think we compliment each other very well,” Holcomb said. “We’rereal close off the floor and I think we’re going to make each otherbetter in the long run.”
Said Epps: “It makes my job easier because I don’t have to worryabout double-teams or triple-teams.”
Also filling in at forward are two incoming freshman, AerickSanders and Chris Walton.
Sanders averaged 24 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks during hissenior year at Gardena Serra High School. So far he has been praisedby his teammates for his stellar work ethic.
Meanwhile, Walton, son of former NBA great Bill Walton,
prepped at University of San Diego High School where he averaged16.8 points and nine rebounds as a senior.
Finally, holding court at the center position is 6-foot-10 MarceloCorrea. The fifth-year senior from Franca, Brazil is coming off hisbest season in which he averaged 10 points and six rebounds.
Backcourt
Sophomore Deandre Moore will run the point this year and shouldhave an immediate impact just one year after transferring over fromVanderbilt. Moore played in 29 games during his freshman year,starting nine times.
“He is a good decision maker,” Fisher said. “And he’s smart enoughto penetrate and finish inside, despite his size.”
Karlo Kovacic, a junior college transfer from Modesto JuniorCollege with a deft shooting touch gives the Aztecs a major presenceoutside the three-point arc.
Spelling Moore and Kovacic will be juniors David Abramowitz and AlFaux.
The 6-foot Abramowitz was third on the team in scoring last season(7.6 ppg). Faux is a walk-on with loads of potential.
“We can just spread it out for guys like Myron and Randy,” Mooresaid. “We can all shoot the three and all four of us can create ourown shot at any time.”
Outlook
How good this team will be is an uncertainty even to Fisher. Thegroup was only assembled this summer and still needs to establishchemistry.
With that in mind, Fisher created a preseason scheduleadvantageous to his group. While the early part of the schedulefeatures NCAA tournament teams Oklahoma State and Fresno State, italso has a few winnable games.
“We’ve got a blend of good teams and tournament-tested teams,”Fisher said. “We’ve got some games that if we play well we shouldwin.”
Said Walton: “We’re coming in with a fresh outlook,” he said.”We’re not worried about what’s happened the past few years here.We’re concentrating on winning as many games as we can this year.”
