This past week, the San Diego State Athletic Department announced the five newest members of the Aztec Hall of Fame.
Let’s take a closer at these former Aztecs.
First is former baseball head coach, Jim Dietz.
Dietz coached the Aztec baseball team for 31 seasons and by retirement, finished with 1,231 wins and a .620 winning percentage, good for seventh nationally among active Division I coaches in 2002. Some players Dietz coached include 1996 Golden Spikes Award winner, Travis Lee; Tony Gwynn, Bud Black, Mark Grace, and Bobby Meacham. In 1979, he guided the team to its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Second is former men’s basketball player Xavier Thames.
Thames graduated in 2014 and in his senior season, he led the team to a Mountain West regular-season conference championship and an NCAA Tournament Appearance, reaching all the way to the Sweet 16.
During the 2013-14 campaign, Thames was the Mountain West Player of the year, an AP All-American Honorable mention, an NABC First-Team All-District Team, a two-time National Player of the Week and a Bob Cousy Award Finalist
A transfer from Washington State, he played 97 games, recorded 1,232 points and 316 assists. Thames was part of three NCAA Tournament teams and in his senior season, he once had a streak of 190 minutes without turning over the ball.
Third is former track star Shanieka Thomas (Ricketts), who graduated in 2014.
Thomas was a three-time triple jump national championship, a two-time runner-up in the triple jump and a three-time United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association West Region Athlete of the Year. In the Conference, she was 2013 Mountain West Female Athlete of the Year and a nine-time MWW champion for both indoor and outdoor track.
She currently holds the SDSU record for indoor and outdoor triple jump.
Fourth is former women’s basketball player Jené Morris.
Morris graduated in 2010 and led SDSU to its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance at the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
She averaged 15.8 points per game and ranks fifth on the career points list with 1,499.
Morris became the first lady Aztec to hear her name during the WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever as the 11th pick in 2010. In addition, she became the first Aztec player to get at least 100 steals in a season twice.
Last is former men’s soccer goalie Tally Hall, who graduated in 2006.
Hall was a two-time All-American and a two-time first-team NSCAA All-Far West Region member. He also holds single-season records in save percentage (88.9%, which led the country in 2005) and 0.49 goals-against average. Hall was part of two NCAA Tournament teams in 2005 and in 2006.
After his time as an Aztec, he played 10 years in Major League Soccer, including eight with the Houston Dynamo and a 2011 All-Star.
The five former Aztecs will be officially inducted into greatness during Hall of Fame weekend, October 11-12.