Fisher Price

In 1999, when former Michigan coach Steve Fisher was hired to lead San Diego State, the Aztecs' last postseason appearance was in 1985. Five years ago, drawing a mere 3,000 fans a game, SDSU basketball was unable to fill Cox Arena, the school’s gym (capacity 12,414).

Several years later, the Aztecs draw an average of nearly 10,000 a game, selling out occasionally. Under Fisher’s direction, San Diego State went to the NCAA tournament in 2002 and the NIT in 2003 -- the first time in school history the Aztecs have played in the postseason in consecutive years.

Capitalizing on the school’s success, Fisher recently signed small forward Kyle Spain, a Bay Area high schooler ranked among the nation’s Top 100 players. Coach also brought in two highly touted recruits for official visits. Point guard Byron Eaton, a Texan rated among the nation's Top 25 players, and wing Kashif Watson, a Las Vegas high schooler seen as among the West’s best, both toured SDSU in early September.

Each might soon find themselves playing in the “San Diego Slam,” the Fisher-envisioned marquee regular season tournament that just became a reality. A couple of years in the making, the first Slam will take place this December 11th and feature USD against USC in the opener and SDSU against Cal in the nightcap.

Fisher’s reward for engineering a successful turn-around? A new contract. Now if only he could erase last year's 14-16 campaign or sign a premier big man...