By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Basketball Beat Reporter / Photo via Titus Wilkinson of The Spear
Tim Miles reached into his pocket, saw a call from newly hired Xavier head coach Sean Miller and knew the topic of conversation even before answering.
Miller let Miles know of his intentions to hire San Jose State men’s basketball assistant coach and head recruiting coordinator David Miller who assembled the first roster of the Miles regime in 2021.
Though disappointed, SJSU’s head coach didn’t flinch when he got the news during last year’s Final Four. David Miller spent several seasons helping Sean Miller recruit top-notch talent at Arizona, which included future No. 6 overall NBA Draft pick Benedict Mathurin.
The “We’re the Millers” reunion catalyzed a major roster overhaul for SJSU.
Nine of SJSU’s 15 players either graduated — Caleb Simmons, Eduardo Lane and Harminder Dhaliwal — or transferred — Shon Robinson (Austin Peay), Majok Kuath (Northwestern State), Trey Smith (grad transfer who went to Idaho), Josh O’Garro (Colby Community College) and Michael Ofoegbu (Colby Community College) — or didn’t play in the 2022-23 season — Sebastian Mendoza.
This coming offseason, SJSU’s roster construction will exchange high quantity for immense impact.
Before diving in, it’s important to note that at the time of this article, no players have entered the transfer portal, Miles still has all three assistant coaches and video coordinator Austin Sleight on staff and most importantly Miles still is still at the helm.
“Where Omari Moore goes, SJSU goes”
That was SJSU’s mantra during the season that featured the first postseason win in program history and first 20-win campaign since in over four decades.
The same mantra can apply for roster construction this offseason.
Moore, the Mountain West’s reigning Player of the Year and bonafide NBA Draft prospect, is expected to declare for the NBA Draft and forgo his fifth and final year of eligibility.
He’s already celebrated his Senior Day and leading up to the game said, “It was a great journey through its ups and downs, but still a little bit sad that it’s coming to an end at the same time.”
The Spartans won’t just be losing 17.4 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game and 4.8 assists per game. They’re also losing a leader, their best defender and go-to guy down the stretch.
Moore has until April 24 to announce his decision. If he leaves, SJSU will be losing its heart, soul and the bone marrow that kept SJSU together through some fractured times. Prior to the 2022-23 season, SJSU had won single-digit games in nine of its last 10 seasons.
But if Moore stays, SJSU is bought another year to replace one of the best players in school history.
Yin and yang of the transfer portal
The only impactful player officially leaving is grad transfer Sage Tolbert who was akin to a defibrillator, helping SJSU come back to life in his one year as a Spartan.
His 7.4 rebounds per game were fourth-best in the conference and was one-third of a rebound battery that lifted SJSU from 330th rebound margin a year ago to sixth nationwide.
224 spots from one year to the next. Not too shabby.
However, Tolbert’s departure is the exact reason why Miles has stated that he doesn’t like piecemealing rosters from one year to the next through the transfer portal. Once a guy’s in, there’s out leaving Miles to repeat the process all over again.
Obviously Miles’ old-school philosophy of bringing in freshman and molding them for four to five years will have to evolve.
And evinced by his success with Tolbert, sophomore Fresno-State transfer Robert Vaihola and junior Ohio State-transfer Ibrahima Diallo Miles’ can adapt to the times.
Besides, what revolution didn’t come without sacrificing tradition?
We know who’s out, but who’s in?
So far, SJSU has received three commitments:
6-foot-8-inch shooting forward Diogo Seixas from Portugal, 6-foot-10-inch shooting forward William Humer from Sweden, who played at McCook Community College in Nebraska and 6-foot-3-inch shooting guard Pasha Godarzi from Valley Christian High School in San Jose.
The only hard commitment is from Seixas and both Humer and Godarzi have signed letters of intent.
Dates to be aware of:
Contact period: April 4 (noon)-May 15, 2023
Regular signing period for high school student athletes : April 12 – May 17, 2023
Final day to enter the transfer portal is May 11, 2023
Final day to commit to a school: August 1, 2023
Back to the future
Remember that conversation Miles had with Sean Miller? When that program-altering call ended Miles dialed up former consultant and lifelong friend Jeff Strohm to form a reunion of his own.
Four months later Strohm became SJSU’s recruiting coordinator.
Other than assistant coach Damany Hendrix, who’s in charge of scouring through the Northern California recruiting scene, Miles doesn’t have designated pools of talent for his coaches.
He’s said in jest that his philosophy is a remix of the message on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”
Essentially, he starts with his positional needs and works from there. Where those fixes are is irrelevant, but the goal is to collect as much local talent as possible.
SJSU’s biggest need other than replacing Tolbert and the air to the throne is three-point shooting.
The Spartans finished with the second-lowest three-point percentage in the Mountain West (32.6%). Wings Trey Anderson and Tibet Gorener haven’t made any announcements on entering the portal and it appears SJSU has addressed that through Seixas and Humer who’ve shown they can drill from deep.
With the drive-heavy Moore likely moving on, modeling an offense around three-point shooting could be how SJSU’s offense adapts to the new circumstances.
Closing thoughts
The chances of the doomsday scenario where both Moore and Miles leaving appears to slim to none after Cal hired Utah Valley’s Mark Madsen to take over for the fired Mark Fox.
There’s scuttlebutt that Miles will head to Mountain West foe, Utah State, after its head coach Ryan Odom left to fulfill the same role at VCU last week. However, that’s all it is — rumors.
After the hectic offseason SJSU had last year with Miller’s departure, followed by nine players exiting, it’s safe to say this offseason will feature more stability.
Great article!!