The 2019-20 San Diego State Aztecs basketball squad finished a remarkable season with a 30-2 record and plenty of school records broken along the way. This was arguably the most successful season a San Diego State team has had in their 100-year history and without a doubt the best team to ever play in the Viejas Arena. Without further ado, here are the top five players that made this remarkable team.
1. G Malachi Flynn
Malachi Flynn was no doubt the best player in the Mountain West and one of the best players nationally this season. Flynn came with the whole package on each side of the ball. He won Mountain West Player of the Year, Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, and finished as a National Player of the Year Finalist. Not only was Flynn a great scorer and shooter and provided great offensive production, but he was also an exceptional defender and passer. He finished with a top-five assist to turnover ratio nationally.
He averaged a team-best 17.6 points, 5.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. Flynn also shot 44.1% from the field and 37.3% from beyond the arc. He scored the most points on the team and made nearly 80 three-pointers throughout the season. With his game-winners and clutch jumpers, Flynn made a name for himself as one of the best guards in college basketball this season.
2. F Yanni Wetzell
In his senior season, and first with the Aztecs, Yanni Wetzell was a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball and was one of the most efficient rebounders in the Mountain West, despite typically having a disadvantage on the defensive side of the ball. To begin the season, Yanni Wetzell was in a much more comfortable position then he ended up, having to play at the end of the season due to forward Nathan Mensah going down with a pulmonary embolism for the season before conference play started. This forced Wetzell to cover the center of every opponent who was typically more lengthy and taller than Wetzell, which gave him a disadvantage on both sides of the ball inside the paint.
Regardless, Wetzell had a breakthrough season with the Aztecs and was one of the most efficient forwards offensively in the entire Mountain West. Wetzell averaged 11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He also finished with a team-best 59.2% field-goal percentage and despite only shooting 22 threes, he finished with a very respectable 31.8% three-point percentage.
3. F Matt Mitchell
Matt Mitchell is one of two players on this list that has played his entire college career at San Diego State. His first two seasons were decent, but in his junior year, Mitchell really found his game and absolutely shattered all expectations. Mitchell lost 25 pounds in the offseason and it paid dividends once the season started. In his first two seasons, Mitchell was in the starting lineup, but due to the three new and more experienced transfers the Aztecs gained in the offseason, he had to start the season off the bench. Despite this, his play was not affected at all. In fact, Mitchell had better numbers in the start of the year on the bench than he did in his first two seasons in the starting lineup.
Mitchell was the second-leading scorer on the team and averaged a career-best 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Mitchell also had career highs in his field goal percentage with 46.8% efficiency in that department, second on the team to Yanni Wetzell, and in his three-point percentage, with a 39.3% from beyond the arc. Mitchell also raised his free throw percentage from 75% last season to 87% this year.
4. G KJ Feagin
KJ Feagin entered his 2019-20 season as a newcomer to the Aztecs as a transfer from Santa Clara for his senior year. Feagin being the oldest player on the Aztecs, sacrificed quite a bit of his scoring abilities when he chose to transfer to a much more talented school than Santa Clara, in return for a possible March Madness bid in his fifth and final season.
Feagin averaged 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and three assists per game, which are pretty solid offensive numbers for a player who was considered the weak link of the starters when it comes to offensive efficiency. Despite not shooting 40% from the field or beyond the arc, Feagin excelled on the defensive end better than anyone in the Mountain West, aside from Flynn. Feagin was typically tasked with the best scorer of each opponent and he delivered better than anyone expected, at times showing absolutely exceptional half-court defense.
5. G Jordan Schakel
Entering his junior year, Jordan Schakel didn’t necessarily have high expectations considering in his first two years, he didn’t even average 20 minutes per game, and he barely averaged five points per game. However, during the beginning of the season, even in the first three games, it was quite obvious that Jordan Schakel is now one of the most efficient three-point shooters in the country.
Schakel averaged 10 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, but the part of his game that stands out beyond all others is his outstanding three-point shooting percentage, and field goal percentage in general. In his third year, he finished with a 45.3% field goal percentage, third-best on the team out of the starters. He also finished with a team-best 43.6% three-point percentage and a team-best 92.7% free throw percentage.