HOUSTON – Aguek Arop tucked his 6-foot-6 frame into the seat for his flight back home after an abrupt and gut-wrenching end to San Diego State‘s 2019-20 season. Then, he pulled up a video on his phone that brought the pain into focus.
It was a compilation made by SDSU director of basketball operations Matt Soria of footage from the season for the Aztecs, who were 30-2 and projected as a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament before the event’s cancellation amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was all of his favorite moments from throughout the year,” Arop said. “And that’s when it hit me. I watched that video and I was crying a little bit.”
More than three years have passed since a day that members of the Aztecs’ program still describe as “devastating” and “sad.” SDSU would have matched or improved upon its best NCAA Tournament seeding in program history after a 26-0 start that saw the SDSU rise to No. 4 in the AP poll.
Then, in the blink of an eye, a program that was barreling toward a golden opportunity to go on a run in the NCAA Tournament had its best season in years ripped away by circumstances outside its control.
“It was a feeling that you can’t really put in words,” said Jared Barnett, who was a freshman on that team.
But out of the heartbreak of an abruptly canceled 2020 postseason, came a foundation on which the No. 5 seed Aztecs stand as they prepare to play No. 9 seed FAU in the program’s first-ever Final Four game on Saturday night.
Five players who were on the 2019-20 team are still on the roster, and four of them play significant minutes for coach Brian Dutcher, who is now in his sixth season.
“For the five of us who were on the team, making the Final Four was a real special moment,” Arop said. “We lost it in 2020, we lost that opportunity. Just knowing that at any moment we could lose it, we just have a new sense of appreciation.”
Similar vibes accompanied Baylor during its 2021 national championship and Kansas in its title run last season. The Bears were ranked No. 5 when the 2020 season ended, and Kansas was ranked No. 1, which made the abrupt ending to that campaign similarly painful for them amid realistic championship aspirations.
But the Bears and Jayhawks were well-established Big 12 programs with recent runs to remember and the talent to quickly make it back to the top.
The Aztecs, by contrast, were enjoying being ranked for…
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