There is a tragedy called San Diego State Athletics.

Now, the SDSU men’s basketball program has set out to do somethingabout it.

Letme clarify before coaches and players around campus get upset. When Isay SDSU athletics, I mean the visible sports, the moneymakers. I’mnot talking about successful programs like softball or either tennisteam or the SDSU men’s golf program.

Rather, I’m referring to football and the two hoops programs –the ones that get media attention outside of The Daily Aztec.

In the past couple of years, none of these programs merited muchattention from outside The Aztec.

While football has a great past and can boast of a dozen or socurrent NFL players, the last few seasons have been painful.

Five years ago, women’s hoops was at the top of the world forSDSU. The team was constantly competing in conference championships.

Since then? Nada.

Five straight losing seasons.

And for a while there, Tony Gwynn’s batting average was competingwith the men’s hoops team’s winning percentage. That’s not good.

SDSU has just three previous NCAA Tournament appearances, the lastback in 1985. We’re talking about a team that just three years agowas a laughingstock.

Then came head coach Steve Fisher. Randy Holcomb and Al Faux soonfollowed. Things began to change.

In the two years that I’ve covered home games, I can see adifference.

A home opener against UCSD last year drew 4,296. This year theteam drew 11,764 against UNLV.

But it’s not just home games.

In last year’s Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas,less than 150 SDSU fans showed up. During Saturday’s championshipgame, the San Diego Union-Tribune estimated that as many as 2,500SDSU fans were in attendance — for a road game.

People around San Diego are starting to take notice.

It’s time for the school to capitalize.

Here are some suggestions:

First, let’s get our own history started inside Cox Arena.

Let’s start by hanging up our Mountain West ConferenceChampionship banner. Then, put up our banners from our 1974-1975,1975-76 and 1984-85 NCAA Tournament appearances and our current one.

If the banners are gone — remake them. It’s a little piece ofcloth. What happened to the tarp from ‘The Q’?

But that’s not enough.

Put the MWC trophy on display.

And then let’s do a little more displaying by retiring somenumbers.

How about Michael Cage and Tony Gwynn? Then, add in Holcomb andFaux.

Yes, they’ve both only been here for two years — not much time toa make a career.

But these two have.

They are two of the finest players to ever put on an SDSU uniform.I don’t need to have five or 10 or 20 years of SDSU knowledge to seeit.

For the first time in a long time, students are showing genuineinterest in a sports program. They’ve filled their section throughoutthe year.

In the year before Holcomb and Faux, the team averaged 2,618 fans.

This season? 6,165.

Holcomb took a chance on SDSU, and it’s paid off for him and theschool. He’s paved the way for a bright future.

Faux, who went from walk-on to star, has to have the schoolcareer-high in clutch shots made. From Oklahoma State to UNLV to lastweek’s Wyoming win, Faux has proved time and time again to be the manto count on.

Fisher is right. In 10 years, this team will return to SDSU asalumni and say they helped get the ball rolling.

Holcomb and Faux will be first in line.

–Dan Hayes is a journalism senior and the sports editor of TheDaily Aztec. He can be reached at DJHZE@aol.com.