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SAN DIEGO – In conjunction with the twenty fifth Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship, the league revealed its twenty fifth Season Team and a conference-high 5 San Diego State Aztecs had been included among the many 25 honorees.
The SDSU gamers who made the checklist are Brandon Heath, Jamaal Franklin, Xavier Thames, Kawhi Leonard and Malachi Flynn. All however Flynn have been inducted into the Aztec Hall of Fame and three of the 5: Franklin, Heath and Thames scored greater than 1,000 factors in Scarlet and Black.
Heath is a four-year letterwinner (2004-07) who completed his school profession because the Aztecs’ all-time chief within the following statistical classes: scoring, area objectives, area objectives tried, three-point area objectives, three-point area objectives tried, steals, video games performed, video games began, double-digit scoring video games and minutes performed. He additionally completed among the many faculty’s all-time leaders in victories (2nd), assists (third), convention victories (third), scoring common (4th), three-point area goal proportion (tenth), and rebounds (seventeenth). Heath accomplished his time on The Mesa as the one participant within the Division I period to rank amongst SDSU’s prime 20 gamers in scoring (1st), rebounding (seventeenth) and assists (third). He guided SDSU to the 2006 NCAA match and to the second spherical of the 2007 NIT. SDSU’s 2006 outright Mountain West title was its first in its DI period and first since 1967-68, and he was the primary participant in SDSU historical past to earn all-MW accolades all 4 seasons (Fr.: honorable point out, So.: second staff; Jr.: participant of the 12 months and first staff; Sr.: first staff). In 125 profession video games, he recorded 112 with double-figure scoring, 54 20-point and 5 30-point video games. Heath led the Aztecs in scoring 60 instances, in assists 45 instances and rebounds 9 instances and was an eight-time Mountain West Player of the Week. He accomplished his Aztec profession because the all-time Mountain West chief in scoring and steals and having scored in double figures a school-record 58 consecutive video games and having began 85 straight video games.
A 3-year letterwinner (2011-13), Franklin went from seldom-used freshman right into a two-time All-American, SDSU’s first since Michael Cage. He performed in three straight NCAA tournaments, together with as a member of the record-setting 2010-11 membership that reached the Sweet 16 and posted a 34-3 document. He was named the nation’s Most Improved Player by CBSSports.com in 2012 after ending with the second-highest enchancment in factors (+14.49) and rebounds (+6.96) from the earlier season. In 2012 he was named Mountain West Player of the Year and completed his profession as a two-time first-team all-MW performer. Franklin posted the biggest scoring enchancment from 12 months No. 1 to 12 months No. 3 amongst all 1,000-point scorers in Aztec historical past (+14.1) and scored in double figures 61 instances and grabbed 10 or extra rebounds 27 instances. He had 26 double-doubles and led the staff in scoring 38 instances, rebounding 43 instances and assists 21 instances. In SDSU’s Division I rankings, on the finish of his collegiate profession, he ranked No. 9 in free-throw proportion, No. 11 in rebounds, No. 13 in factors and in three-point area objectives and No. 16 in blocked photographs.
Thames performed three seasons at San Diego State (2012-14) after competing as a real freshman at Washington State. On The Mesa, he performed in 97 video games, beginning 91 and guided SDSU to 2 Mountain West titles and three NCAA berths, together with the Sweet 16 in 2014. Thames scored in double figures 59 instances with 15 video games of a minimum of 20 factors. In addition, he led the staff in scoring 31 instances, rebounding 4 instances and assists 53 instances. The Sacramento, Calif. native, helped the Aztecs to 3 seasons of 23 wins or extra (26 in 2012, 23 in 2013, 31 in 2014) and upon the completion of his school profession his SDSU Division I profession rankings had been third in free-throw proportion, fifth in free-throws, seventh in convention victories, eight in scoring, ninth in victories, tenth in assists, tenth in three-point area objectives, tenth in minutes performed, eleventh in video games began, 14th in three-point field-goal proportion, 14th in points-rebounds-assists, fifteenth in steals, nineteenth in effectivity factors, twenty fourth in scoring common. In 2014 his honors included AP Honorable Mention All-American, CBSSports.com Third-Team All-American, NCAA West Region all-tournament honoree, Mountain West Player of the Year, first-team all-conference, Mountain West all-defensive staff, Mountain West all-tournament, NABC and USBWA all-district, Bob Cousy Award finalist, midseason Oscar Robertson and Naismith Trophy Watch List, three-time Mountain West Player of the Week, and two-time nationwide participant of the week.
Leonard began 69 of the 70 video games by which he competed in his two seasons at San Diego State (2010-11) and completed with 64 straight begins. He led SDSU to the 2010 Mountain West Tournament title, 2011 MW regular-season title and 2011 MW Tournament title whereas serving to the Aztecs to the 2010 NCAA Tournament and 2011 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Leonard led SDSU to its first NCAA Tournament win in class historical past in 2011 and earned All-American (second staff by AP, Sporting News, FOXSports.com, third staff by State Farm Coaches and SI.com that season changing into this system’s second consensus All-American (additionally: Michael Cage). He logged 40 profession double-doubles, which is the second most in class historical past behind Cage’s 61 and tied Utah’s Andrew Bogut for probably the most profession double-doubles in convention historical past. He set the Mountain West all-time mark for profession double-doubles in league video games (21) and double-doubles in a single season in MW video games (12). Leonard posted 56 profession double-figure scoring video games and 42 profession double-figure rebounding efforts, together with 9 with 15+ boards, led the staff in scoring 27 instances, rebounding 43 instances and assists 16 instances. In 2010, he was the Mountain West Tournament MVP and a first-team choice and on the time was the one freshman in MW historical past to earn first-team all-conference honors. That identical 12 months he was MW Freshman of the Year, Sporting News All-Freshman second staff and an NABC All-District 17 choice. He was the one freshman within the then 11-year historical past of the MW to earn convention participant of the week accolades 3 times and was certainly one of solely 4 freshmen in Division I to steer his staff in scoring and rebounding. In his sophomore marketing campaign he was voted first-team All-MW, MW All-Tournament Team, MW All-Defensive Team, NABC All-District 17 and USBWA All-District IX groups. He was certainly one of 10 candidates for the Naismith Award and certainly one of 20 candidates for the Wooden Award. In SDSU’s Division I profession rankings at time of his departure he was second in rebound common, fifth in rebounds, seventh in consecutive video games began, 14th in field-goal makes an attempt, sixteenth in scoring common, sixteenth in video games began, 18th in blocks, nineteenth in factors, twentieth in area objectives and twentieth in steals.
Following two years at Washington State and sitting out the 2018-19 season after transferring to San Diego State, Flynn grew to become probably the most adorned Aztec in a single season. After being named a second-team All-American by The Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), United States Basketball Writers of America (USBWA) and The Sporting News, he joined Hall of Famers Michael Cage and Kawhi Leonard because the third consensus All-American in program historical past. In addition, he garnered second-team All-American honors from CBS Sports, NBC Sports and The Athletic and first-team distinction from Sports Illustrated and STADIUM. In 32 video games in 2019-20, all begins, Flynn averaged 17.6 factors (on 44.1 % capturing, together with 37.3 % from the bonus distance, and 85.7 from the free throw line), 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. He added 56 steals and three blocks in 1,072 whole minutes on the ground. An NABC first-team All-District 17 performer, he reached double figures 31 instances and within the lone game by which he was in single digits, he scored 9 factors. The Most Valuable Player of each the Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational and Basketball Hall of Fame Classic totaled a minimum of 15 factors 22 instances, a minimum of 20 factors 9 instances and a minimum of 30 factors as soon as. Flynn led the staff in scoring 21 instances, in assists 21 instances and rebounds 4 instances. The second Aztec to be named to the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year, Naismith National Player of the Year and Lute Olson National Player of the Year Awards, Flynn was the 2019-20 Mountain West Player of the Year and a first-team All-Mountain West performer in each the coaches and media polls. He earned the coaches ballot Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and the media ballot Mountain West Newcomer of the Year, along with twice being named Mountain West Player of the Week. Among Mountain West performers, Flynn ranked first in assists, assist-to-turnover ratio and steals, third in scoring and free throw proportion, fifth in area goal proportion and three-point area objectives and eighth in minutes. Nationally was 14th in assist-to-turnover ratio, forty third in free throw proportion and assists, forty eighth in steals, fiftieth in assists per game, 76th in factors, 79th in steals per game, 93rd in factors per game, 94th in three-point area goal makes an attempt, and ninety fifth in three-point area objectives, along with appearances in eight extra classes.