alt=Jeff CallFor almost a year, dating back to when USC and UCLA announced that they are leaving the Pac-12 conference next summer for the Big Ten, San Diego State has been an expansion target for the Pac-12.
“ ... going bigger picture, San Diego State Athletics is in the golden spot. We’re just about to — it’s all cautiously optimistic — but we’re optimistic that we’re going to that Power Five level, and all the things that come with that.” — SDSU softball coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz
The Aztecs make a lot of sense because the Pac-12 needs a presence in Southern California. On top of that, they’ve been successful in a number of sports, including football and basketball.
In men’s hoops, SDSU recently reached the Final Four for the first time, falling in the NCAA Tournament championship game to UConn.
In softball, the Aztecs advanced to the Super Regionals, where they lost to Utah in Salt Lake City last weekend. The Utes will play in the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 1994 this week.
SDSU softball coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz was asked after the series ended about the future of her program and the future of the Aztecs’ entire athletic program.
“We talked about being excited for the future of this program. But going bigger picture, San Diego State Athletics is in the golden spot. We’re just about to — it’s all cautiously optimistic — but we’re optimistic that we’re going to that Power Five level, and all the things that come with that,” she said. “That comes with different opportunities in recruiting, opportunities in terms of resources and facilities. Seeing what the basketball team did, we’re not in the finals but we were right there. There’s some momentum. We built a brand new football stadium during COVID.
“You think about the things that are happening in our department — we’re not a mid-major. We’re right there; we’re ready to go. I feel so blessed that I get to be here as this is happening. When I took this job 15 years ago as an assistant coach, I couldn’t have imagined that this is where we would be going,” she added. “And here we are. I’ll give the credit to John David Wicker, our athletic director … He’s supportive; he gets it.
“He supports coaches and he supports athletes. He wants to understand what they need. I feel really blessed that I get to live in America’s Finest City and I get to coach at America’s finest university. I really am the luckiest coach around.”
As has been reported, if SDSU is going to leave the Mountain West for the 2024-25 season, it would need to notify the league by June 30. If they leave after that date, the exit fee of $17 million could end up being twice that amount.
Both the Pac-12 and Big 12 have reportedly shown interest in the Aztecs. The Pac-12 has yet to secure a media rights deal, which is a bigger priority right now than expansion.
For Nuveman Deniz, the approach is to keep working hard in the meantime. And she has a role model to follow should SDSU join a Power Five program — Utah. The Utes left the Mountain West for the Pac-12 in 2012.
“The irony of us playing Utah is, I was an assistant at San Diego State when Utah made that jump. I got to see firsthand how that changed their program and how that transformed their department. I coached on their old softball field. The last year before they transitioned is when they were building (Dumke Stadium),” she said. “For me, it was kind of full circle because I remember playing on that old field. It was average at best and then they took care of it. They built them the right facility. They took care of the resources they needed to be successful.
“(Utah coach) Amy Hogue was here during that time and she kept building with it. In some ways, maybe I’ll follow in her footsteps, being in a program before it happens, while it happens and then after when we get to see the fruits of what that looks like in the future,” she continued. “(Utah) lived it — and that’s going to be us. They’re having the last laugh. They punched their ticket. But like I keep saying, we’re going to be there. This is a notch in our belt for the future.”
Hogue can relate to what SDSU might be experiencing soon in terms of moving to the Power Five level.
“I remember being in the Mountain West Conference when I took this job. We were picked to take dead last when I got handed the job. Building a program from that point to the point where we were going to win the Mountain West, we traded conferences,” she said. “Then back to the bottom again — picked to take last.
“And we did. It took us a while to chip away — a couple of wins, four wins, eight wins and then we got double-digit wins and we went from one game away from what we just did (win Super Regionals). That’s what you have to do when you play in a conference like theirs. You just chip away. You build with what you’ve got. They’ve done a good job building their program. They were tough to beat.”
And just maybe SDSU will soon be reunited with Utah in the Pac-12.
