Despite the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the San Jose State men’s basketball team is optimistic about the upcoming 2020-21 season. SJSU lost to New Mexico State University 79-66 in the opening round of the Mountain West Men’s Basketball Tournament in the 2019-20 season (7-24, 3-15 MWC).
SJSU will face Simpson University Nov. 2 at the Provident Credit Union Event Center. Mountain West Conference play will start Dec. 21 as SJSU travels to take on Utah State University.
Conference play will determine SJSU’s place in the 2020-21 Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship, which will be held March 10-13 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, according to the Mountain West website.
Fans will not be able to attend the Spartans’ home games this season because of Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 restrictions, according to a Nov. 19 post on the SJSU men’s basketball website. Games will be streamed live on the Mountain West Digital Network, according to the post.
Head coach Jean Prioleau discussed the changes to the Mountain West schedule format at a Nov. 12 media day.
“I think the guys just want to play,” Prioleau said. “Whether it’s 18 games, 20 games, I think they just want to have a season or some type of a season.”
Prioleau said that during the offseason, the team did what it could in order to practice. This meant abiding by Santa Clara County Public Health guidelines such as social distancing and wearing face masks.
The team also conducted Zoom meetings and practiced on an outdoor court that was constructed on the tennis courts in September next to CEFCU Stadium.
While junior guard Seneca Knight led the team in scoring last season, the Spartans will also look for strong contributions from a multitude of players on the roster, not just the starters.
“Guys on the team know that the strength of the team is our team. It’s not just one person because one person’s not going to be able to put it on their shoulders,” Prioleau said at media day. “So it’s really going to come down to the rest of our team to be able to play, be accountable and try to stick to what we’re trying to do as a team.”
Knight will come into this season after averaging 17.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in his sophomore year. He significantly increased his points per game from his freshman year to his sophomore year and said he looks to improve his skills this upcoming season.
“For this season it’s been the little things to pick up from last season and to help improve my efficiency,” Knight said at media day. “Making the right play, making the right reads, going downhill, finding the open man, any little thing and improving on my defense.”
Knight, one of three returning starters, will also be a leader for five incoming freshmen this season. He said they are eager to play, competitive and take direction well from the coaches and veteran players on the team.
The two other starters returning alongside Knight are senior guard Richard Washington who averaged the second most points on the team at 10.3, as well as sophomore guard Omari Moore who averaged 4.9 points per game and shot 50% from the field.
For the Spartans, defense will have to improve this upcoming season in order to have a winning record. After averaging an 11.5 point differential in losses, Prioleau believes his team is making strides to get better.
Prioleau said in a phone interview that the team needs to sustain their defensive spurts in games. He also added that while it doesn’t show in the statistics, the film shows that his team was able to get stops defensively when they needed it, but they weren’t able to convert on the offensive side of the ball.
He added that they will need to limit 3-point attempts by their opponents in order to win
more games.
Although the team’s offseason wasn’t ideal for SJSU because of the pandemic, the men’s basketball team will not waste this shortened season and will look to improve on all aspects of the game.
