By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Spear Reporter | Photo by Titus Wilkinson – The Spear
SJSU men’s basketball head coach Tim Miles started a sentence only to stop it a few words in. “Might as well, right?” he said, motioning to an SJSU Athletics staff member. “Rob Vaihola had surgery on his foot earlier last week and he’s most likely out for the season.”
The news was to be expected. Vaihola hasn’t played this year. Yet, those who kept up with last year’s unprecedented run understand how devastating this is. Vaihola was the Mountain West’s best offensive rebounder a year ago as a true sophomore and was pivotal in SJSU notching its first 20-win season since 1981.
“I view Rob as a guy that could be … one of the best big guys in the Mountain West,” Miles said following the Spartans 78-65 win over North Dakota State.
Mind you, SJSU’s (5-2) already reeling from Omari Moore’s departure (pros), but with Vaihola’s loss, no member of last year’s stellar rebounding trio will return. So how will SJSU adapt? And more importantly, can the Spartans build off last year’s success without him?
As of now, Miles is rolling with three big men: seven-footer Adrame Diongue (sophomore), six-foot-10-inch William Humer (sophomore) and six-foot-eight-inch Diogo (DJ) Seixas (freshman).
Monday night offered a sliver of what each could bring to the table.
Diongue, a former top-45 recruit and Washington State transfer is wildly talented. His seven-foot-six-inch wingspan allowed him to block a shot in the second half and is now averaging the third most swats per game in the conference (1.7). Earlier this season, he’s mashed down lobs from point guard Alvaro Cardenas with sheer ruthlessness.
Should he rise to his potential, SJSU could compete with Mountain West behemoths like Utah State’s Great Osobor and New Mexico’s J.T. Toppin. But Diongue’s penchant for foul trouble may prevent him from doing so.
Monday night marked his third time fouling out this year. His final line for Monday: five minutes, zero points and one block. Sure, it’s one game. Prior to Monday, he’d notched a total of four fouls in his prior two contests. That said, he’s SJSU’s lone bonafide rim protector so it’s imperative he stays on the floor as long as possible.
“He needs an experience like tonight to learn about it, think about it, watch it on tape and learn his lessons and put it into a better performance,” Miles said of Diongue, SJSU’s leading rebounder (6.4).
Then there’s international bigs in Humer (Sweden) and Seixas (Portugal), who’re logging some of their first Division I minutes.
Humer finished with +/- of +14 (second-highest on SJSU) and went two-for-three from deep. Seixas, meanwhile, finished with eight points and went 1-for-2 from deep. Monday night marked Seixas’s third game this year as he’s been hurt. Both of them offer more versatility on offense, but their lurking around the three-point line comes at the price of not offering a strong paint presence.
But does SJSU need Diongue, Humer and Seixas to be what last year’s trio — Vaihola, Sage Tolbert and Ibrahima Diallo — was? After all, SJSU is shooting 36.4% from three this year, compared to last year’s 32.6% mark – second-lowest in the conference. Should wings Trey Anderson and Tibet Gorener continue their sharp shooting, sniping at a 45.7% and 40.4% mark respectively, SJSU could overcome Vaihola’s absence.
“It sucks to not have him, but there’s other guys that got to step up,” said Anderson, who had a team-high 21 points on Monday night.
Such a heavy, forward-looking analysis shouldn’t distract from the unfortunate situation Vaihola is in. He arrived at SJSU in 2022 after Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson told him the junior college route may be a better path for him. So Vaihola hit the portal, connected with Miles at a Starbucks near his Bay Area home and later committed to SJSU.
The result? Turning into one of the Mountain West’s most improved players. He went from averaging 1.5 points and two rebounds in six minutes per game in 2021-22 to amassing 7.6 points and 6.5 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game in 2022-23.
“I sent him a video before the game. My daughter and I did it because they’re friends, too. ‘Ava where’s Rob?’” Miles joked. “Trying to be playful. Hopefully a cheer you up thing.”