Who is San Diego State basketball coach, Brian Dutcher? Taking a look at the Aztecs HC's coaching career
The San Diego State Aztecs have gone from strength to strength under head coach Brian Dutcher. After a heartbreaking loss in the NCAA Division I Finals last year to the UConn Huskies, the team is back to face a familiar foe.
The team began their 2024 March Madness slate against UAB in a close encounter that saw the Aztecs come out on top 69-65.
The second round was a more comfortable affair when San Diego State beat Yale 85-57 to advance to the Sweet 16 for a rematch against the UConn Huskies.
Brian Dutcher has been consistently excellent in his 7-year tenure with San Diego State. But, where did his coaching career begin before coming to this school?
Brian Dutcher's early coaching career
A nearly 40-year veteran of the coaching ranks, Dutcher began his coaching career with a brief 3-year run as an assistant for South Dakota State from 1986-1988.
His days at San Diego State didn't net the best results, as the team went from NCAA Division II Champions the season before missing the tournament outright in his first 2 years. His final year saw the team return to the tournament and end as the 3rd-ranked regional team.
A turn to the Univeristy of Michigan under interim head coach Steve Fisher in 1989 saw the team win the National Championship. Brian Dutcher was wildly successful at Michigan, reaching the NCAA Finals three times in total, winning once.
The team made it to the Elite Eight in 1994 once again and was consistently making NCAA Tournament appearances, missing out only twice during his 9-year run.
Both Steve Fisher and Brian Dutcher were key reasons for Michigan's success during the time, especially due to their recruiting prowess. The two were instrumental in the arrival of the Fab Five in Michigan, comprising Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson.
Once Fisher moved to San Diego State the next year, Dutcher followed right alongside him, serving 18 seasons as an assistant before taking over the head coaching mantle.
During their run, the program saw a boom period in the 2010s when they made the NCAA tournament in 6 consecutive years, and 7 out of the total 10. The team reached the Sweet Sixteen twice, in 2011 and 2014, as Dutcher received due credit for recruiting Kawhi Leonard to the program.
Brian Dutcher's coaching record
During his run as assistant for Steve Fisher in San Diego State, Brian Dutcher was seen as the head coach in waiting since around 2011. In 2017, when Fisher retired, Brian was announced as the official replacement.
He brought the team back to the NCAA Tournament after two straight misses. However, Year 2 didn't go according to plan and the team missed out. In the offseason, the transfers of Malachi Flynn, Yanni Wetzell, K.J. Feagin, and Trey Pulliam were a much-needed shakeup for the roster.
Further, the development of returning stars like Matt Mitchell, Jordan Shackel, Nathan Mensah, and Adam Seiko, bolstered the roster. This new-and-improved team led the Aztecs to a 26-0 stat to the season and a #4 nation-wide ranking.
They continued their dominant run over the next two years, making the NCAA Tournament for both teams. It was last season that the team enjoyed arguably its best season to date in the program's history.
After a 32-7 overall record, the team was the #1 seed in the Mountain West Conference, before Brian Dutcher took his team on an improbable run to the NCAA Tournament Finals.
The biggest upset victory for them came in the Sweet Sixteen against Alabama, which allowed them to be favorites the rest of the way, before falling to the #4th-seeded UConn Huskies team in the Finals.
This season's trip to the NCAA Tournament marks the fifth of Brian Dutcher's coaching tenure. He's missed just two tournaments, one of which came during the team's best regular season in 2020 as March Madness was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brian Dutcher has a 177-58 record in his coaching career, with an NCAA Tournament record of 7-5.