The narrative around San Diego State’s basketball team this spring has been retention, about the eight members of last season’s young but talented roster that spurned the six- and seven-figure temptation of the NIL-infused transfer portal to run it back at Viejas Arena in 2025-26.
But coach Brian Dutcher still had four available scholarships from the loss of three seniors and guard Nick Boyd, two of whom started a combined 59 games. It is the less publicized part of the Aztecs’ offseason but no less important.
They needed a true, pass-first point guard to run the offense. They needed depth at power forward. They needed another shooter. They need backcourt length and versatility.
They needed more experience. They needed more familiarity with the rigors of arguably college basketball’s most challenging travel conference.
They also needed to balance the roster composition between classes so, NIL permitting, there’s some semblance of continuity in future seasons.
Check, check, check, check, check, check and check.
The Aztecs already had a fall commitment from incoming freshman Tae Simmons, a bruising 6-foot-7 forward from Heritage Christian High in Northridge. Then they added forward Jeremiah Oden from Charlotte, point guard Sean Newman Jr. from Louisiana Tech, guard Latrell Davis from San Jose State and Bellflower St. John Bosco High School guard Elzie Harrington.
Now that all four have signed scholarship agreements, they are no longer considered “recruitable athletes,” meaning Dutcher is allowed to speak publicly about his spring haul and how they fit.
If there’s a common thread, it’s that his coaching staff has been familiar with them well before this spring, which accelerated the recruiting process.
Oden and Davis played (and played well) against SDSU multiple times. Assistant coach Ryan Badrtalei, when he was at UC Irvine, recruited Newman out of Fullerton College and already had a relationship with him. SDSU was one of the teams Harrington was considering last fall before choosing USC.
Here’s a closer look at the four, with comments from Dutcher:
Jeremiah Oden
Oden was on Dutcher’s radar two years ago when he first entered the transfer portal from Wyoming.
The Aztecs didn’t get him. Oden opted to play at DePaul, his parents’ alma mater in his hometown of Chicago. He spent a season there, then transferred to Charlotte for his final year of collegiate eligibility. Then he broke a bone in his foot in October, sat out all of 2024-25 and qualified for a medical waiver for an additional year.
“Getting a chance to do it again worked out really well for us,” Dutcher said.
Whether or not Magoon Gwath returned, the Aztecs needed depth at the 4. With his athleticism, perimeter range and ballhandling ability, Oden can also slide to the 3 in what could be a tantalizingly enormous lineup: 6-6, 6-7, 6-9, 7-0 and 7-0 (with redshirt freshman Thokbor Majak).
Oden averaged 13 points and shot 42.9% from 3-point range in five career games against SDSU.
“He shoots it, he finishes at the rim, I think he has the ability to post up if we ask him to,” Dutcher said. “As a sixth-year senior, we thought he was a perfect fit. He wants to win in his final year. It’s not about, ‘I need to put up this number and do this or that.’ He wants to win.
“And obviously, he knows what San Diego State is about, having played against us.”
Latrell Davis
The guard from Leeds, England, was even more impressive against the Aztecs, torching them for 23 and 21 points last season.
Davis said he wanted to play for SDSU since first stepping in Viejas Arena as a freshman and considered his two games as a sophomore as an unofficial audition.
“We know how good we are defensively,” Dutcher said. “To face a guy over two years and have him put up numbers against us, knowing what we’re capable of defensively and seeing them still able to do it, shows you we’re well aware of his talents and feel like he can make his next step in our program.”
Davis’ role could be dependent on whether Miles Byrd turns pro. The 6-7 redshirt junior was invited to the NBA draft combine in Chicago and has until May 28 to withdraw to retain his college eligibility.
Davis is close to a 40% marksman behind the arc, and at 6-3 and 210 pounds has the kind of strong, physical frame that should thrive in the Aztecs’ aggressive defensive scheme.
And like Oden, he knows his way around the Mountain West.
“These guys are experienced in this league,” Dutcher said. “They know what these environments are and what these teams do. They know what it is.”
Sean Newman Jr.
The number that SDSU coaches kept returning to when evaluating Newman: 245.
That’s how many assists he had last season at Louisiana Tech, which computes to 7.9 per game, which ranked third nationally. The SDSU single-season record, held by Tony Gwynn, is 221. Only one Aztecs player has had more than 126 in a season over the past decade.
“Sean is the quintessential pass-first point guard,” Dutcher said. “The eight assists per game was something that jumped out on paper. We have really good pieces, a lot of talented players back. If you can find people on time, on target, and hit them in the shooting pocket, your shooting percentages go up. He’s an elite, pass-first point guard who can find people.
“We thought this year’s team needed someone like that.”
Newman also fits their preferred profile of underrated overachievers. Newman was lost in the COVID shuffle, unrecruited out of Culver City High School until Fullerton College’s Perry Watson took a flier on him.
The pandemic wiped out his first season in junior college. A knee injury erased most of the second. He won a state JC title in his third before spending two years at Louisiana Tech, making 2025-26, like Oden, his sixth year of college basketball.
Because of the recent NCAA decision not to count JC years against Division I eligibility, Newman has at least one and possibly two years remaining.
“We went to the portal and looked at a lot of point guards,” Dutcher said. “We just felt he had come up with a chip on his shoulder, having played at Fullerton College and then at Louisiana Tech. He’s still growing his game and wants to take it to another level, and we felt we could help him do that.”
Elzie Harrington
One of the offseason priorities was to get bigger in the backcourt.
How about a long, athletic, four-star prep prospect who can play the 2 and 3 but might be most comfortable as a 6-6 point guard?
Harrington, in many respects, fell into SDSU’s lap. He initially committed to Harvard last spring, then decommitted after his father was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer so he could be closer to home. That was USC until he realized “it wouldn’t be the best situation for me” and decommitted again last month.
Harrington talked to SDSU in the fall, but never visited campus. He visited this spring and committed, looking for more than just a team.
“We had the family on campus and got to spend quality time with his mom and dad and his sister,” Dutcher said. “We’re here to support him as he deals with his dad’s diagnosis. I’ve never been afraid to let guys miss practice, whether it’s getting home for a wedding, or having a paper due that they need to spend extra time on, or whether it’s to deal with family matters.”
Harrington is ranked No. 47 in the class of 2025 by Rivals.com, making him SDSU’s most decorated prep basketball recruit in more than a decade.
Said Dutcher: “Elzie is what we’ve always had: He’s multi-dimensional, he’s got length, he can score the ball, he makes his teammates better – just a great addition. He can play any number of positions, including the point. His versatility will hopefully allow him to get on the floor this season.”
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