By Austin Turner — Columnist
Forget the losing record. Forget the drama. This past San Jose State men’s basketball season was officially a success.
In a piece for The Spear, guard Seneca Knight announced Tuesday that he will return to SJSU for his junior season.
The news of a star player returning to a mid-major program might sound trivial, but this move potentially changed the trajectory of this program. For the first time in what feels like forever, SJSU men’s basketball finally caught a break.
This offseason marks the first time that the Spartans’ leading scorer doesn’t transfer away since 2014-15.
The significance of this cannot be overstated.
For each of those five agonizing years, Spartan fans couldn’t enjoy each blooming star. With every dunk, 25-point performance or double-double, the feeling of joy and excitement was inevitably met with anxiety.
Fans couldn’t enjoy players like Brandon Clarke or Noah Baumann. There was a constant expectation that they would leave for greener pastures once the final whistle of the season blew.
That feeling carried over with Knight.
As he budded with the typical freshman growing pains last season, there was still a feeling that the kid was special. His numbers weren’t amazing and his game wasn’t the most well-rounded, but he just had it.
But even that hunch felt by those who watched certainly couldn’t have matched what Knight did this past season. He exploded onto the scene with a refined play-style. No longer was he a one-trick bucket-scoring pony.
Yes, he scored a lot — especially late in the year, but he did so much more. He developed his playmaking skills. He put on muscle, allowing himself to have an inside presence with improved finishing. He played excellent defense on the perimeter.
But the most crucial attributes Knight brings to the Spartans isn’t tangible. It’s not his jumper. It’s not his ballhandling.
Knight’s return establishes a culture to a program that desperately needed it.
Talent hasn’t been the main issue for SJSU. The program consistently churns out solid players. The exceptional ones just eventually wind up at more successful programs.
The Spartans simply needed one of them to buy-in. That’s all it could take to right the ship.
The power of continuity is something that is often understated in college basketball. Young talent is intoxicating to watch, but teams made up of primarily new players rarely win. It’s the older, more experienced teams that cut down nets in March.
“That’s what we need here: Continuity,” head coach Jean Prioleau told me at a practice in mid-February. “Things become a little more easier … But I know it’s a process and that’s what we’re in right now.”
He has a point. Even expanding the scope to the top mid-major programs in college basketball, there’s a constant thread that runs through each winning season. Mark Few has been the head coach at Gonzaga since 1999. Randy Bennett has helmed St. Mary’s since 2001.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a solid program at any level that has as much turnover as SJSU.
So when a now-veteran player like Knight buys what Prioleau is selling, it’s going to provide the blueprint for the Omari Moore’s of the team. It starts a chain reaction that runs throughout the entire roster.
Now, coaches will be able to see their recruits fulfill the roadmap originally laid out. New players won’t be forced into primary roles right off the bat, as the team already has a go-to scorer. It streamlines the process for everybody involved.
A great player has finally set precedence for this program.
Maybe for just this year, SJSU men’s basketball is no longer a farm team. Maybe for just this year, fans have hope. Maybe it’s just the beginning. But it doesn’t happen if Knight leaves.
It’s time for fans to sit back, watch how the team does next season and appreciate the fact that a great young player is finally buying in. It might just convince them to buy in too.
Follow Austin on Twitter @AustinTurner_