San Diego State returned all five starters from last season’s team and Dutcher said he knew “we would be good” but didn’t foresee a 20-0 start. Even the great “Fab Five” team at Michigan coached by Fisher and Dutcher never started 19-0, although that group did earn a No. 1 national ranking.
Dutcher, known as an outstanding recruiter who still talks weekly with former “Fab Five” star Juwan Howard, compared the Aztecs with two of the best Gophers teams ever. He said San Diego State has senior leadership like his father’s 1982 Big Ten champs. The Aztecs are a physical team, too, similar to the 1997 Minnesota Final Four team.
Often the most talked about Aztec is 6-7, 225-pound forward Kawhi Leonard, a physical but athletic senior and likely No. 1 NBA draft choice. “He’s got the biggest hands I’ve seen since Chris Webber,” Dutcher said, comparing Leonard to the former Michigan superstar and “Fab Five” member.
Like the 1997 Gophers, the Aztecs have balance in various basketball skills, along with team depth and respect for one another. “This is as unselfish of a team as we’ve had,” Dutcher said.
The Aztecs will get another shot at Brigham Young, the team that gave them their only loss, and next time (February 26) the game will be in San Diego. Both schools are in pursuit of the Mountain West Conference title. The league doesn’t receive the national attention of the Big Ten and other conferences but San Diego State could beat any team in America.
Dutcher and the Aztecs hope for a No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA tournament. And this year they want to be closer to home than in 2010 when the selection committee sent them packing for an opening game (and loss) all the way to Providence, Rhode Island. Good for frequent flyer miles, but not much else.
A first round assignment closer to San Diego will require less energy and provide more fan support. “I think the less travel, the easier it is,” Dutcher said.
Not that Dutcher is thinking much about the tournament. The night this Minnesotan saw him in San Diego the Aztecs were about to play Air Force and he said: “Tonight’s game is the only game that matters to me.”
Spoken like a coach’s son.