SOHIKISH RETURNS TO SDSU
Mikey Hoops is back. The fairy tale continues for Michael Sohikish, the 5-foot-9 University City High alum who became something of a folk hero at San Diego State as a student manager turned rostered basketball player. Now he’s a graduate assistant on the Aztecs staff for the next two seasons.
The last we saw Sohikish, he was starting on Senior Night in 2019, the culmination of a journey that began as a childhood Aztecs fan who ran on the court after big wins, then a benchwarmer on the UC High freshman team, then an undersized varsity starter, then a graphics designer for SDSU’s basketball team after getting cut in walk-on tryouts, then a student manager for three years, then a guy with his name on the back of a jersey for two.
In his penultimate home game, he had five points and an assist in a three-minute appearance in a 28-point Aztecs win against San Jose State. His career also included a brief appearance against No. 1-ranked Duke at the Maui Invitational.
He spent last year at Cal obtaining a master’s degree in civil engineering with an emphasis in engineering and project management. As fun and rewarding as basketball was, the plan was to transition to the proverbial real world.
Then he returned to an Aztecs practice during semester break last December, and the coaches broached the possibility of returning as a graduate assistant after finishing his degree at Cal. In August, he enrolled in a two-year MBA program at SDSU’s Fowler College of Business.
“When I graduated (from SDSU),” Sohikish said, “I thought, ‘ OK, let’s put this chapter behind me and move forward and get into the engi
neering industry.’ And here I am. We’ll see what speaks louder in this case, my plans or my actions.
“Basketball was such a big part of my life and my lifestyle. The game gave me so much growing up and it taught me a lot that I probably wouldn’t have learned anywhere else, at least until a later stage of my life. I really missed it when I was away.”
Should he pursue a career in coaching, Sohikish would be following the template of Dave Velasquez, who began as a student manager at SDSU and 19 years later is still there (and regarded among the top assistant coaches in Division I).
“You have to be smart enough to understand your role, know your role, and get over yourself in so many differ
ent ways to help the overall team,” Velasquez said of Sohikish during his senior year. “Most of the time, the fans, his family, his former coaches, they never get to see what he’s done for this program and how much value he’s brought. But his teammates know, and obviously the staff really, really appreciates him.”
NCAA clarifies new rule
After initially saying the extra year of elig ibility for basketball players and other winter sports athletes applies only if they stay at their current school, the NCAA said Thursday that’s not necessarily the case.
“The eligibility is available at another school,” an NCAA spokesperson said in an email to the Union-Tribune, “but the scholarship will count against
team limits. If a student-athlete stays at their current school but has exhausted (previous) eligibility, their aid doesn’t count against team limits.”
In other words, if you have 13 basketball players on scholarship and three seniors stay for their extra year, you still get three additional scholarships for 2021-22. If a senior transfers to another school for that extra season, he or she counts against that school’s allotted scholarship limit (which is 13 for men’s basketball).
The scholarship exemption for returning players applies only to 2021-22. After that, you must fit any players exercising their extra year into the normal scholarship limit.