For the 28th consecutive year, a Selection Sunday has come and gone without mentioning San Jose State.
In contrast to San Jose State football having several bowl appearances during that time period and sustaining success for the last five seasons, basketball has long been Kryptonite.
Men’s basketball went 21-14 in 2022-23, just the third winning season since 1993-94. At first, it appeared that Tim Miles was finally the head coach who could save this program from the abyss of perpetually irrelevant programs.
Instead, San Jose State regressed to a typical bad season this year with just nine wins. Many of the new recruits did not pan out as expected. Combine that with starting forward Robert Vaihola missing the season with a foot injury, and there was a team so lacking in size that opponents could score or rebound at will in the paint.
Takinga step back would be understandable after the graduations of two exceptional players, Omari Moore and Sage Tolbert. But consistently reaching 15 wins a season, not necessarily San Diego State or Utah State type of seasons, should not be too much an ask.
Granted, the Mountain West Conference has proven to be the toughest mid-major college basketball conference, this year achieving a new record six bids to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
It must be asked: How hard can it be to have basketball on the level of Charlotte, Memphis, or North Texas? These large-market schools in peer Group of Five conferences consistently reach a minimum 15 wins a season.
The answer to that question was provided March 8 in a feature story by Damian Trujillo for the 6 p.m. NBC Bay Area newscast. Anchor Jessica Aguirre introduced the story standing in front of a graphic imposing the San Jose State Spartan helmet logo and caption “out-priced in sports” over a faded picture of Lucas Gate.
Reporter Damian Trujillo interviewed Miles, Vaihola, and new football coach Ken Niumatalolo at the Event Center. According to Miles, San Jose State is at a disadvantage due to the NCAA allowing student-athletes to sign commercial sponsorships in what is popularly known as NIL (name, image, and likeness).
“Two years ago, when you talked in the recruiting process, what’s most important to you? Education, development . . . NIL a little bit. And then last spring, it was NIL, and then we’ll worry about the education,” said Miles with a slight laugh at what he thought was an inversion of priorities.
One alum is trying to find a solution. Steve Guerrero, a real estate agent and technology consultant, spoke of his NIL fundraising efforts in the same NBC Bay Area story. Guerrero also serves with the San Jose State University Alumni Association as vice president for external relations and leads Blue Gold NIL, a fundraising collective independent of the university.
“We really need to make sure . . . that we can do the best job recruiting and retaining top athletes,” Guerrero told NBC Bay Area.
Guerrero also had an extended interview with San Jose State athletics spokesperson Sky Kerstein for the March 15 San Jose State Coaches Show.
“We’re not talking about creative lavish lifestyles for our student-athletes. . . . We’re just trying to allow them to have funds available for them to sustain themselves here in a very expensive place,” Guerrero said on the Coaches Show.
It can be reasonably argued that decades of bad administrative decisions limit San Jose State’s ability to ask for additional basketball funding. Guerrero, however, is confident that he can pitch the value proposition.
“We have to find those supporters and those investors in our community that see the value in helping monetize our local athletes and in return having those athletes support your image as well, associating their success with your image and your organization,” added Guerrero on the Coaches Show.
Time will tell if Guerrero can successfully adapt San Jose State to the higher cover charges of the Division I club. The national exposure from NCAA postseason appearances has consistently proven to enhance the image of schools whose teams qualify. For example, Florida Gulf Coast University saw applications for admission grow by over 25 percent following the basketball team’s surprise appearance in the 2013 Sweet 16, reported Bloomberg News in 2017.
In a February 23 story, Mercury News reporter Sal Pizarro wrote that Cynthia Teniente-Matson “has become known as SJSU’s most vocal president in decades.” A commitment to improving San Jose State basketball should be the next issue where President Teniente-Matson should wield her influence.
