# 2009–10 San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball team

The 2009–10 San Diego State men's basketball team represented San Diego State University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was head coach Steve Fisher's eleventh season at San Diego State. The Aztecs competed in the Mountain West Conference and played their home games at Viejas Arena. They finished the season 25–9, 11–5 in MWC play. They won the 2010 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They earned an 11 seed in the Midwest Region and were defeated by 6 seed and AP #15 Tennessee in the first round.

## Off Season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Ryan Amoroso | 43 | F | 6'8" | 263 | Senior | Burnsville, Minnesota | Graduated |
| Tim Island | 2 | G | 6'4" | 207 | Senior | San Diego, California | Graduated |
| Kyle Spain | 15 | F | 6'5" | 220 | Senior | Newark, California | Graduated |
| Matt Thomas | 21 | G | 6'4" | 213 | Senior | Riverside, California | Graduated |
| Lorenzo Wade | 31 | F | 6'6" | 225 | Senior | Hawthorne, California | Graduated |
| Richie Williams | 3 | G | 5'10" | 162 | Senior | San Diego, California | Graduated |
| Bryce Smith | 25 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Freshman | Woodland Hills, California | Elected to transfer. |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| James Rahon | 11 | G | 6'5" | 202 | Sophomore | San Diego, California | Elected to transfer from Santa Clara. Rahon will redshirt for the 2009-10 season, under NCAA transfer rules. Will have three years of eligibility. |

### 2009 Recruiting Class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Kawhi Leonard SF | Riverside, CA | Martin Luther King High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Oct 22, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Eric Lawton SG | Hemet, CA | West Valley High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Jun 27, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Chase Tapley SG | Sacramento, CA | Sacramento High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 25, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 85 ||||||
| Alec Williams PF | San Juan Capistrano, CA | Junipero Serra Catholic High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Jun 13, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Malcolm Thomas PF | San Diego, CA | San Diego City College | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Nov 12, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: JC ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013. ||||||

## Preseason

In the Mountain West preseason polls, released October 6 at The Mtn. studios in Denver, CO, San Diego State was selected to finish second in the media poll. Jr. Billy White was selected to the preseason MWC first team. Fr. Kawhi Leonard was selected as the preseason freshman of the year.

## Roster

Source
| # | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Position | Class | Hometown | Previous Team(s) |
| 0 | Alec Williams | 6'6" | 268 | F | Fr. | San Juan Capistrano, CA | JSerra HS |
| 3 | Tyrone Shelley | 6'6" | 225 | G | So. | San Diego, CA | Crawford HS Pepperdine |
| 4 | Malcolm Thomas | 6'9" | 215 | F | Jr. | San Diego, CA | Crawford HS San Diego City College |
| 5 | Brian Carlwell | 6'11" | 297 | C | Jr. | Maywood, IL | Proviso East HS Illinois |
| 11 | James Rahon | 6'5" | 202 | G | So. | San Diego, CA | Torrey Pines HS Santa Clara |
| 15 | Kawhi Leonard | 6'7" | 225 | F | Fr. | Riverside, CA | King HS |
| 20 | Jason Deutchman | 6'6" | 220 | G | Jr. | Los Angeles, CA | Santa Monica HS UW–Milwaukee |
| 22 | Chase Tapley | 6'2" | 205 | G | Fr. | Sacramento, CA | Sacramento HS |
| 23 | D.J. Gay | 6'0" | 167 | G | Jr. | Sun Valley, CA | Poly HS |
| 24 | Tim Shelton | 6'7" | 248 | F | So. | Fresno, CA | Clovis West HS |
| 32 | Billy White | 6'8" | 235 | F | Jr. | Las Vegas, NV | Green Valley HS |
| 40 | Kelvin Davis | 6'3" | 220 | G | Sr. | Waterbury, CT | Sacred Heart HS College of Southern Idaho |
| 42 | Mehdi Cheriet | 6'9" | 218 | F | Sr. | Tarare, France | Albert Thomas HS Arizona Western |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/03/2009* 7:00pm | | California Baptist | W 72–57 | — | Viejas Arena (4,365) San Diego, CA |
| 11/10/2009* 7:00pm | | Point Loma Nazarene | W 89–56 | — | Viejas Arena (4,807) San Diego, CA |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 11/14/2009* 2:00pm | | UC San Diego | W 77–52 | 1–0 | Viejas Arena (5,520) San Diego, CA |
| 11/16/2009* 11:00pm, ESPN | | at Saint Mary's ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon | L 58–80 | 1–1 | McKeon Pavilion (2,774) Moraga, CA |
| 11/19/2009* 7:00pm | | Santa Clara West Coast Classic | W 86–53 | 2–1 | Viejas Arena (5,401) San Diego, CA |
| 11/23/2009* 7:00pm | | at Fresno State West Coast Classic | W 62–58 | 3–1 | Save Mart Center (8,041) Fresno, CA |
| 11/25/2009* 7:00pm, Big West TV | | at Pacific West Coast Classic | L 63–71 | 3–2 | Alex G. Spanos Center (2,705) Stockton, CA |
| 11/28/2009* 3:00pm | | Northern Arizona West Coast Classic | W 89–48 | 4–2 | Viejas Arena (4,390) San Diego, CA |
| 12/02/2009* 7:05pm, 4SD | | at San Diego City Championship | W 69–62 $^{OT}$ | 5–2 | Jenny Craig Pavilion (4,662) San Diego, CA |
| 12/05/2009* 7:00pm | | at UC Santa Barbara | W 69–61 | 6–2 | The Thunderdome (2,513) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 12/09/2009* 7:00pm | | Cal State Fullerton | W 82–68 | 7–2 | Viejas Arena (4,774) San Diego, CA |
| 12/12/2009* 7:00pm, The Mtn. | | Arizona | W 63–46 | 8–2 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| 12/19/2009* 3:30pm, FSAZ | | at Arizona State | L 52–55 | 8–3 | Wells Fargo Arena (10,055) Tempe, AZ |
| 12/22/2009* 6:05pm | | at Drake MWC–MVC Challenge | W 76–73 $^{OT}$ | 9–3 | Knapp Center (4,012) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/29/2009* 7:00pm | | UC Riverside | W 58–53 | 10–3 | Viejas Arena (5,315) San Diego, CA |
| 12/31/2009* 1:00pm | | Pomona-Pitzer | W 89–54 | 11–3 | Viejas Arena (4,061) San Diego, CA |
| 01/05/2010 7:30pm, The Mtn. | | No. 15 New Mexico | W 74–64 | 12–3 (1–0) | Viejas Arena (7,558) San Diego, CA |
| 01/09/2010 3:00pm, The Mtn. | | at Wyoming | L 83–85 | 12–4 (1–1) | Arena-Auditorium (4,826) Laramie, WY |
| 01/13/2010 7:05pm, CBSCS | | at UNLV | L 66–76 | 12–5 (1–2) | Thomas & Mack Center (14,530) Paradise, NV |
| 01/16/2010 7:00pm, The Mtn. | | TCU | W 67–62 | 13–5 (2–2) | Viejas Arena (5,871) San Diego, CA |
| 01/19/2010 7:00pm, The Mtn. | | at Utah | W 70–68 | 14–5 (3–2) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,520) Salt Lake City, UT |
| 01/23/2010 7:00pm, The Mtn. | | No. 14 BYU | L 69–71 | 14–6 (3–3) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| 01/30/2010 3:00pm, The Mtn. | | at Colorado State | W 64–52 | 15–6 (4–3) | Moby Arena (3,809) Fort Collins, CO |
| 02/02/2010 7:00pm, CBSCS | | Air Force | W 70–48 | 16–6 (5–3) | Viejas Arena (6,126) San Diego, CA |
| 02/06/2010 3:00pm, The Mtn. | | at No. 15 New Mexico | L 86–88 $^{OT}$ | 16–7 (5–4) | The Pit (14,586) Albuquerque, NM |
| 02/10/2010 7:30pm, The Mtn. | | Wyoming | W 88–57 | 17–7 (6–4) | Viejas Arena (6,606) San Diego, CA |
| 02/13/2010 7:00pm, Versus | | No. 23 UNLV | W 68–58 | 18–7 (7–4) | Viejas Arena (9,224) San Diego, CA |
| 02/16/2010 5:00pm, The Mtn. | | at TCU | W 68–51 | 19–7 (8–4) | Daniel-Meyer Coliseum (3,615) Fort Worth, TX |
| 02/20/2010 6:00pm, The Mtn. | | Utah | W 68–61 | 20–7 (9–4) | Viejas Arena (10,695) San Diego, CA |
| 02/24/2010 6:00pm, CBSCS | | at No. 13 BYU | L 68–82 | 20–8 (9–5) | Marriott Center (20,124) Provo, UT |
| 03/03/2010 7:30pm, The Mtn. | | Colorado State | W 68–55 | 21–8 (10–5) | Viejas Arena (8,043) San Diego, CA |
| 03/06/2010 6:00pm, The Mtn. | | at Air Force | W 61–42 | 22–8 (11–5) | Clune Arena (3,352) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| 03/11/2010 2:30pm, The Mtn. | (4) | vs. (5) Colorado State MWC Quarterfinals | W 72–71 | 23–8 | Thomas & Mack Center (11,031) Paradise, NV |
| 03/12/2010 6:00pm, CBSCS | (4) | vs. (1) No. 8 New Mexico MWC Semifinals | W 72–69 | 24–8 | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| 03/13/2010 4:00pm, Versus | (4) | at (3) UNLV MWC Championship Game | W 55–45 | 25–8 | Thomas & Mack Center (12,728) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/18/2010* 6:45pm, CBS | (11 MW) | vs. (6 MW) No. 15 Tennessee NCAA First Round | L 59–62 | 25–9 | Dunkin Donuts Center (10,788) Providence, RI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=NCAA Midwest Regional. All times are in Pacific Time. Source ||||||