We're about to find out what sort of a bridge builder San Diego State athletic director Jim Sterk is. Can he take the warm feelings San Diegans have for his hoops team and carry them across four and a half months to football season?
That's a big trick. I think the success of the football program played a role in how quickly the community came together for basketball. A sellout for Occidental on New Year's Eve was weird, but it come just eight days after the Aztecs 35-14 defeat of Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl. The good feelings translated because the seasons overlapped. That doesn't work when hoops ends. There is a long time span before people start thinking football again and whether SDSU is even in the equation is questionable.
So what does Sterk do? An occasional print advertisement in the newspaper won't cut it. I'm sure he can trot the basketball players out once or twice before Padres games. He'll have an advantage in case the NFL and its players continue their labor strife -- but I would not count on it. There will be some renewal of interest in June if Kawhi Leonard goes to the NBA draft, but the after-taste will be that we lost him.
You can't live off the basketball afterglow forever. The marketing effort is going to need to convert fan interest to football, which means Ronnie Hillman and Ryan Lindley and Rocky Long and a blitzing, gambling defense. It means home games with Boise State and TCU and a renewal of the rivalry with Fresno State. I'm no marketing expert, but those are some building blocks.
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Leonard's future plans amount to a win-win situation for the SDSU basketball team. Everyone is steeling themselves against losing the rebounding dynamo to the NBA and it could happen, but the fact is the program will benefit from whichever decision he makes.
The general consensus is that he will enter his name for draft eligibility and go through the evaluation process. Once that is completed, he and head coach Steve Fisher will sit down for a heart-to-heart, and Leonard will then complete the decision-making with his mother. That all makes perfect sense.
1. Leonard stays - A program that is now guard-heavy clearly is better with his inside play, incentive to prove himself in the NCAA Tournament and possible season-long media attention. He will have more time to work on his ball-handling and jumper, and avoid possible labor issues in the NBA. With Leonard in the fold, SDSU will spend the season in the Top 25 again and return to the Big Dance.
2. Leonard leaves - For all the good players who have come through the program under Fisher, none have made it in the NBA. Leonard's departure would be because he is a certain first-round draft choice, breaking a major barrier that opposing coaches are certainly using against SDSU in the recruiting wars. There will be a lot of publicity about him leading up to June, and even his announcement in April that he's putting his name in could entice a freshman big man to come to State. Finally, if Leonard stays, it will be because he needs to improve on his perimeter game, and Fisher will need him to perform in the paint. If he is not there, tension will be avoided.
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