‘How Bout Them Aztecs?' — City Shows Love To SDSU Team After Final Four Feat

By Editor, Times of San Diego

April 9, 2023

Thousands of fans gathered at Snapdragon Stadium Saturday to celebrate the success of San Diego State‘s basketball team and its journey to the championship game at the NCAA Tournament.

They may not have achieved the final step, falling to UConn Monday, but Mayor Todd Gloria gave head coach Brian Dutcher and the team the key to the city, while Nora Vargas, chair of the Board of Supervisors, declared April 8 as “SDSU Basketball Day” in San Diego County.

University President Adela de la Torre called the team’s postseason run “a magical journey,” while Gloria told the players, “Gentlemen, what you have done is brought 1.4 million people together.”

The team, represented by Keshad Johnson, Aguek Arop, Matt Bradley and Lamont Butler, expressed gratitude to the fans (but without Adam Seiko, who was ailing and could not attend).

Johnson thanked the crowd for standing by SDSU during close games, when “we gave y’all heart attacks.” Bradley said the program didn’t have “any weak links this season,” and that the Aztecs, even without the title, won in the long run because “we live in San Diego, not Connecticut.”

And Butler, who made the buzzer-beating bucket that propelled his team to the championship game, told the crowd, “We needed you guys the whole way.”

Ted Leitner, the team’s long-time announcer, asked the fans at Snapdragon, “How ’bout them Aztecs?” and said though he’s “not sure it’s the best team the Aztecs have ever had … it’s my favorite team.”

The results bear him out. After winning the Mountain West season and tournament titles, the Aztecs (32-7) became the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region.

They went on to win the region – including a victory against the tournament’s top seed, Alabama to take SDSU to the Elite Eight for the first time – then gave San Diego State its first trip to the Final Four.

Then Butler’s game winner over Florida Atlantic gave them their shot at the crown.

Retired coach Steve Fisher – who brought current head coach Brian Dutcher to San Diego State and guided his Aztec teams to early-round success at the tournament – introduced his one-time assistant at Snapdragon, saying “look what the program is all about now.”

Dutcher thanked Fisher for “his vision of greatness that we strived to meet.” And he promised the crowd that he knows there’s another step to take.

“We have one more game to win in March and that’s our goal and that’s what we’re gonna work to do,” Dutcher said.

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