Mountain West Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season
Aztecs . 1. team. 508. . .
Asking for a repeat trip to the Final Four may be too much for San Diego State. Asking the program to win its fourth conference title in five years, however, seems much more reasonable.
The script has been written about the Aztecs’ 2022-23 season, one that will be talked about 50 years from now in San Diego. After winning both the Mountain West regular season and conference tournament titles, Brian Dutcher’s program advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in nine years, the Final Four for the first time ever, and the championship game, which brought a somewhat anticlimactic end to a historic year.
Two of the most important players from that season are gone, though, pursuing professional opportunities in the United States (Nathan Mensah) and Germany (Matt Bradley). The incoming replacements aren’t of the same caliber, meaning the holdovers will have to step up.
Lamont Butler is an ace defender who finished on the All-Mountain West Third Team last year. He’ll forever be known for his incredible game-winning shot against Florida Atlantic in the Final Four, but his legacy – and NBA Draft future – may depend on a stronger offensive season.
Darrion Trammell will be the scoring maestro of this team. He averaged 9.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game last season while putting up big assists and steals totals. The diminutive guard is going to create problems all over the court for opponents.
The key newcomers are Reese Dixon-Waters and Jay Pal, coming from USC and Campbell, respectively. Dixon-Waters is the reigning Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year after averaging 9.8 points off the bench for the Trojans, while Campbell averaged 12.3 points per game and was one of the best rebounders and blockers in the Big South. Both will need to step up further this year.
Next. 15 head coaches on the rise. dark
With Micah Parrish and Jaedon LeDee also returning, it will be a challenge for any team to dethrone the San Diego State Aztecs. That’s why they start 2023-24 atop the Mountain West power rankings.