By Jarra Gojolo — Content Editor
San Jose State men’s basketball spent all of last year in the Mountain West’s basement. They went 1-17 in conference play, losing MW games by an average of 23 points.
With the departures of leading scorers Michael Steadman and Noah Baumann, the Spartans were a consensus choice to finish dead last in the conference at season’s start. To most people (myself included), 10 wins seemed unattainable.
Things might be different.
Despite the numbers, SJSU has shown an ability to play up to its competition this season.
They were less than a second away from taking down undefeated, and now No.4 ranked, San Diego State at Viejas Arena.
The Spartans defeated Nevada — and conference player of the season candidate Jalen Harris — to hand the Wolf Pack their first conference loss of the season.
Richard Washington’s explosive play was instrumental to the Spartans multiple victories. SJSU upset Hofstra in New York, topped New Mexico at home, and kept pace with Sam Merrill’s then-ranked Utah State Aggies.
Long story short, these guys aren’t rolling over to the Mountain West this season.
Despite the admirable play early in the season, the Spartans have endured their fair share of beatdowns. The largest beatdowns include a quartet of PAC-12 losses against Arizona, Oregon State, UCLA and Stanford, losing those games by a total margin of 341-209.
Three of those losses were part of an eight-game skid, which also included the losses against SDSU and USU. This left the Spartans at 3-10 before Christmas, with nearly the full conference schedule ahead of them.
“The teams we’ve played in the PAC-12 are all near the top of the PAC-12 … I think it’s helped us,” Prioleau said.
In preparation for the conference schedule, guard Seneca Knight says the tough run of non-conference contests have also helped out his individual game.
Knight shot a combined 19 percent in the four games against the PAC-12, including two 1-of-10 shooting nights against Arizona and Oregon State.
He says games like those require mental toughness “through the process and the ups and downs of everything.”
Combined with the offseason work he’s been doing, those struggles are paying dividends so far.
Within Mountain West conference play, Knight is currently fifth in the conference in scoring. He scored a career-high 28 points in a Jan. 8 win against Nevada, then eclipsed that mark a week later with 30 in a loss against UNLV.
He’s the first Spartan to score 30 in a game since Ryan Welage in 2017-18. And the first to score 30 against a D-I opponent since Brandon Clarke the previous season.
Prior to the Spartans’ Jan. 21 game against New Mexico, he was shooting 44 percent from the field and 39 percent from three. He’s shown an ability to score from anywhere on the court, which is one of the steps toward achieving his goal of becoming a well-rounded player.
“In the offseason that was one of my major keys, to get stronger,” Knight said.
“Playing the Mountain West, you know, bigger guys. Learning the game more, getting my IQ better about everything, working on what I’ve been doing and trying to perfect it, each and every day. Shooting, ball handling, defense, everything.”
After Knight’s 28-point game, Prioleau credited guard Brae Ivey with elevating the entire team’s play.
“What’s happening is, the other guys — in this case Seneca — is seeing [Ivey’s work ethic], and he’s putting in the same amount of work. When you do that over time, eventually the things that you do in practice will start to align in the game.”
Ivey is helping himself as well. The senior is the Spartans’ designated marksman, shooting a team-high 35 percent from downtown this season.
He says this season has been a rollercoaster.
“I think it started off low, but it’s been a journey, I’m still finding my game,” Ivey said.
“I think I know myself as a player a lot more than I did at the start of the year. I think I’m still finding myself, I don’t think I’ve hit my ceiling whatsoever, so there’s a still a lot that I can improve on. But I’ve come a long way.”
And there is a long way to go before the season ends.
The Spartans will have to move on without forward Craig LeCesne, who left the program in late December to play professionally for Swedish Basketball League team Nässjö Basket. The senior averaged 7 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes per game before his departure.
But of course, Prioleau is no stranger to player departures. Multiple players have transferred out in each year of Prioleau’s tenure — including Brandon Clarke, who left weeks after the coach was first hired.
His current group of SJSU players have already eclipsed their win total from the previous two seasons, and currently have as many Mountain West wins as the other two seasons combined.
In his third season — which Prioleau says feels more like a second season — the Spartans look better. Which bodes well for future seasons.
And who knows, they could make some noise in the Mountain West Championship if they keep this up.
Follow Jarra on Twitter @JarraGojolo
