Brian Dutcher isn’t expecting Terrell Gomez to be Malachi Flynn and he’s not expected to be.
The 5-8 guard — who played at Cal State Northridge last season and then graduated and transferred to San Diego State — is a completely different player than the guy who was an All-American last year and led the Aztecs to a 30-2 record before the NCAA Tournament was cancelled last March due to COVID-19.
But that doesn’t mean that Gomez isn’t going to be a major force when he inherits the minutes that Flynn left behind in the Aztecs’ back court.
“He’s a dynamic scorer,” Dutcher said of Gomez Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast. “He can shoot the ball as well as anybody in the country.”
Gomez averaged 19.8 points last season at the mid-major level and made a whopping 111 three-point shots while shooting 44 percent from long distance. It was the second consecutive year that Gomez made more than 100 three-point shots; he made 117 during the 2018-19 campaign.
In addition to Flynn, San Diego State also lost two terrific starters in K.J. Feagin and Yanni Wetzell who both played integral parts during last year’s dream season.
Despite those departures, Dutcher sounded like a coach who was confident.
The Aztecs still return two double-figure scorers in Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel along with a veteran ball handler in Trey Pulliam.
Maryland grad transfer Joshua Tomaic is also expected to be a factor up front and Dutcher added that 6-10 big man Nathan Mensah — who only appeared in 13 games last season due to a respiratory infection — would have played in the NCAA Tournament last March and is expected to be fully cleared and ready to go when practice begins. Mensah was instrumental in San Diego State’s win over Iowa last November and had a major hand in holding Luka Garza to a season-low nine points in the victory.
“I see a veteran team again which I love,” Dutcher said. “We’ve got five seniors in the program. Usually in the Mountain West that means a great deal of success.”
The Aztecs were projected first in Monday’s Mountain West Preseason Preview.
