Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Basketball Beat Reporter
While being recruited this past offseason, Sage Tolbert asked SJSU head coach Tim Miles a simple question:
“Coach, are we going to win?”
Tolbert, a graduate-transfer from Temple, wanted to make the most of his final year of eligibility while Miles needed to improve SJSU’s presence in the paint.
The second-year head coach’s reply was equally simple and direct:
“Well, if you come here we will.”
And Miles’ reply is now prophetic, too.
He shared the story following SJSU’s 82-52 win over Air Force. The victory gave SJSU (13-8, 4-4 MW) its fourth conference win of the season which is the most conference wins since 2016-17 season. Moreover, it puts Miles in a league of his own amongst former Spartan skippers.
The previous six SJSU head coaches, beginning with Stan Morrison in 1990-91, have a combined .169 winning percentage in conference play in their second campaign. SJSU can lose their next 10 games to close the season and Miles would finish with a winning percentage of .285 in Mountain West play.
But there’s one thing Miles has access to that Morrison, Phil Johnson, Steve Barnes, George Nessman, Dave Wojcik and Jean Prioleau didn’t:
The transfer portal.
College basketball’s version of free agency has given Miles the opportunity to quickly rebuild and help SJSU’s quadruple its conference win total from a year ago. They’ve shot up 226 spots in the NET, from finishing 333rd a year ago to now being ranked 107th.
Taking in a grad transfer like Tolbert, has helped shore up one of SJSU’s prime weaknesses a year ago — rebounding. They finished 330th in rebounded margin a year ago, but now sit eighth nationwide.
Tuesday night’s 30-point blowout over Air Force – its largest margin of victory over a Mountain West opponent of all time – encompassed just how vital the transfer portal has been to Miles and the Spartans’ unheralded success.
Led by an 18-point, 10 rebound, double-double from sophomore Fresno-State transfer Robert Vaihola, and an eight rebound night from Tolbert, the Spartans had the Falcons’ front court wrapped around their spear.
They outscored the Falcons 16-3 on second chance points, out rebounded them 37-21, including an impressive 12-5 on the offensive side of the glass. Vaihola had four of them and he’s now averaging 2.6 offensive rebounds per game which places him at second-best in the conference.
As Miles was settling into his seat during his press conference, SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya popped his head into the room and quietly said to him “3,371.”
The “3,371” refers to SJSU’s crowd attendance Tuesday night. It’s 810 people more than SJSU’s largest crowd for a conference game last season and 411 more than Prioleau’s largest crowd pull during his second year as head coach in the 2018-19 season.
Those in attendance got to see the transfer portal diamonds shine, but it was the longest tenured Spartan who provided cinematic excellence.
Fourth-year guard Omari Moore, who’s the only player remaining from the Prioleau era, went for 19 points in the first half and 26 overall while also dishing a team-leading six assists.
“With Rob and Sage I think that they both excel in their role,” said Moore. “Rob always tells me, ‘Just put pressure on the rim. If you don’t make it I’m going to be right there and get it’ and he does that a lot.”
Later adding, “They definitely bring a whole lot to our team if you can’t tell.”
Both rebounding, but also scoring as Tolbert (nine points per game) and Vaihola (7.4 points per game) are SJSU’s third and fourth leading scorers.
A luxury of the transfer portal is its ability to provide immediate support to enhance the play of a team’s best player.
Moore is now the sixth leading scorer in the conference with 16.1 points per game after finishing 17th last year with 13.2 points per game.
Last year, Moore was a one-man show, having led the Spartans in points, rebounds and assists. Night in night out, he was producing, but needed extra help.
That help is now here with the likes of Vaihola and Tolbert.
But there’s a catch to all this. For all the upside of the transfer portal there’s one massive downside.
Tolbert came to SJSU with hopes of making the most of his final year of eligibility. That’s the downside. This is his last year as a Spartan.
It’s the yin and yang of the transfer portal era. Teams can flip a switch by adding veterans, but it means the light doesn’t stay on for very long.
Fans won’t have to worry about Vaihola as he still has three years of eligibility remaining, but seven-footer Ibrahima Diallo, who’s been a force on the boards and is tied for first in the Mountain West with 1.9 blocks per game, only has one more year of eligibility left.
But for now, most fans would rather not get caught up in the possibility of transient success and prefer to sit back, enjoy the wins and watch Tolbert flying in from the boonies to deliver a put back slam.