AZTECS LAND BIG MAN
Maryland transfer hopes to be as productive as Wetzell
A 6-foot-10, foreign grad transfer from an island who played tennis in high school, can dribble between his legs on the break, has 3-point range, shoots an old-school hook, is a certifiable gym rat and had unremarkable Division I statistics at a power conference program.
San Diego State just got another one.
Last year, it was Yanni Wetzell from New Zealand via Vanderbilt. This year, Joshua Tomaic from Spain’s Canary Islands via Maryland.
Tomaic committed to the Aztecs on Thursday in the same kind of underthe-radar recruitment that no one outside their inner circle probably saw coming. He entered the transfer portal April 20 with little fanfare, he said, to see “if there are opportunities for an increased role elsewhere for my final year of eligibility” but left open the possibility of a return to a Terrapins team with little frontcourt depth.
Instead, he’s crossing the continent to play for a different team with little frontcourt depth. Tomaic redshirted his first year at Maryland, played three seasons and is on track to graduate this summer, meaning he’ll be eligible immediately at SDSU.
“My first thought was to go lower (level),” Tomaic said. “It was a little surprise. I did not expect a school like San Diego State to reach out to me . ... But with Coach (Brian) Dutcher, I felt like there was some type of connection. I like how he approached the recruitment and took his time, showing me things. I can tell he’s a coach who believes in me and likes my game.
“And then, obviously, it’s a great program. They have great basketball history, and what he did last year is very impressive. It’s not easy in college basketball to win 20 games, so imagine 30.”
Tomaic represents the missing piece of a roster that suddenly had only one player taller than 6-7. (And that’s 6-10 Nathan Mensah, who has yet to receive full medical clearance after missing the final 19 games reportedly with a blood clot in his lungs.) The Aztecs had four 6-10 players last season, but Wetzell and Nolan Narain were seniors, and sophomore Joel Mensah transferred to James Madison.
Tomaic’s versatile skill set and high basketball IQ allow him to play both a pick-and-pop forward and the low post, giving the Aztecs cover for Mensah as well as the ability to throw a “Twin Towers” lineup at opponents — less important in the Mountain West than when facing high-major programs in the nonconference season or NCAA Tournament.
“It was a difficult situation,” Tomaic said of his time at Maryland, where he played behind several NBA prospects. “I don’t really blame Coach (Mark) Turgeon at all. You really have high level players on that team, and I can understand you’re not going to change something that’s working once you win a lot of games.
“It was frustrating, but I was a team player at the end of the day. I chose to keep working. I tried to bring a lot of leadership to the younger guys. But, yeah, it was frustrating.”
His college statistics are hardly impressive, but then, neither was that of their last 6-10 grad transfer. Wetzell spent two years at a Div. II school in Texas and averaged 5.9 points as a junior for a Vanderbilt team that went 0-18 in the SEC, then was an all-conference selection at SDSU on a 30-2 team ranked No. 6.
Tomaic’s most productive season at Maryland was as a freshman, appearing in 26 games and starting one (against Indiana). He recorded his career highs in points (11) and rebounds (eight).
Last season, on a 24-7 team ranked No. 12 and projected as a 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, he played in 16 games and started once, attempting only 11 shots with a high game of four points. His career averages are 1.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 6.5 minutes. He’s 7 of 16 behind the 3-point arc (43.8 percent) but hasn’t made one since he was a freshman.
“When he first reached out, he explained the situation with Yanni,” Tomaic said of Dutcher. “As our relationship evolved, he told me stories about him and how Yanni kind of had the same concerns and needs. He talked about various scenarios for next season. I really liked it. It was really useful to see Yanni succeed like that. That’s the path I also want to follow for my last year.”
One of the benefits of having a veteran staff is networking, and SDSU coaches are well connected to their Maryland counterparts. They were able to get practice tape to supplement game clips of the 71 minutes he played
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