The San Diego State University Aztecs' historic March Madness run may be over, but the benefits from their success will extend beyond the basketball court into recruitment, brand recognition and admissions.
Already, SDSU's success on college basketball's biggest stage is propelling the program forward according to assistant coach David Velasquez.
"(It's) so amazing to see what this is going to do for our men's basketball program, amazing to see what it’s going to do for us as a coaching staff moving forward," Velasquez said. "But the number one thing we will take from that is that we belong and that when we go, we’re going to expect to win.”
It will also boost recruitment.
“We have a national relevance now, because we played in the national title game, so I think it will expand our recruiting base not only on the west coast but I think we'll be able to recruit throughout the United States and possibly internationally,” said assistant coach in charge of player recruitment JayDee Luster.
Luster said he told the younger players to take in the whole national championship experience, but to also let it motivate them. Luster said thinks the Final Four experience is going to positively impact those coming back to the team next year.
“I think our guys when you experience that level of success, I think it's only human nature to want to get back there,” Luster said.
The entire university is going to benefit from their success too.
“Universities (are) affected by Final Four runs, there's no question about it," Velasquez said. "The applications for admissions will just go through the roof. We've seen it with other teams like VCU, Wichita State, Butler, Loyola Chicago, teams that have gone to a Final Four."
According to SDSU, there has been an 88% increase in page views on the university's website, and a 59% increase in traffic to their admissions page. The university also received an equivalent of $200 million in free advertising.
“I think everybody should benefit. That's the way it should be and I'm happy that that's the case,” Luster said.
This run will also impact a new part of college athletics called name, image, likeness (NIL), which allows an athlete can receive financial compensation for the usage of their name, image and likeness through endorsement deals and advertisements.
SDSU’s NIL was not high, but Velasquez said after the team's Final Four appearance it could improve.
"It's something that we can't control as coaches, but we know that it's a part of athletics now in general and especially in men's basketball," Velasquez said. "So it's going to affect hopefully in a very positive way.”
SDSU has won the Mountain West Conference 16 times, but Velasquez said that the Final Four put them on a national stage and gives them a chance to really build their brand.
“The respect level that San Diego State will have now and we'll always continue to have a chip on our shoulder, we know what our grassroots are, where our foundation was built. But at the end of the day, the respect that we just earned you know and again it wasn't given it was earned over all these years,” Velasquez said.
To honor the Aztecs national championship run, a celebration is going to be held at Snapdragon Stadium this Saturday. Details can be found here.
