Aztecs notes: Basketball season ticket prices go up, potential November opponents and NBA workouts

A month after playing for the NCAA championship, San Diego State announced men’s basketball season ticket prices for 2023-24.

They went up.

They didn’t go up as much as some might have expected.

The majority of seating areas in 12,414-seat Viejas Arena increased by about 5 percent. The only area above 7 percent was a newly created pricing level for bench seating at the top of the building along the sidelines, which increased 25 percent from $199 to $249.

The cheapest seats — upper benches behind the baskets — went from $199 to $209.

Technically, the increases are in line (or even under) annual inflation.

“We want to be sensitive to what’s happening in the world today,” Athletic Director John David Wicker said. “It’s not an inexpensive ticket. We wanted to catch up a little bit with what’s going on, but at the same time we felt like this was the right middle ground to hit, also knowing that we may have other things happening in the near future that impact how we think about things moving forward.”

(That’s code for San Diego State’s potential move into a power conference.)

The prices include a mandatory contribution to the Aztec Club, the athletic department’s fundraising entity, that is not tax deductible. So a season ticket in the courtside “tan” seating section, which is the first eight rows (and the first 12 in some areas), costs $940 for the ticket plus $1,575 to the Aztec Club — a total of $2,515.

Last season, those seats cost $2,395, a 5 percent increase.

The Aztecs played 16 home games in 2022-23 plus a preseason exhibition against NAIA San Diego Christian. With the new prices, that computes to just under $148 per game for tan sections.

This is the eighth time in the last 10 years that SDSU has raised men’s basketball ticket prices. There were substantial bumps of 30 percent or more in 2014-15 (following a Sweet 16 appearance) and 2020-21 (following a 30-2 record).

A decade ago, a courtside seat in row 15 cost $760 including the Aztec Club contribution, or $44.70 per game (for 17 home dates). That same seat now goes for $1,875, or $110.29 per game.

Renewals begin next week, after which season tickets will be offered to the waiting list. Wicker said he expects renewal rates to hit the 90-plus percent of past seasons, and the leftovers to be snapped up quickly — leaving few, if any, single-game tickets.

Las Vegas games

SDSU has known it will play in the Continental Tire Main Event tournament at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Nov. 17-19. It didn’t know its potential opponents in the four-team event, but a Twitter report by Rocco Miller identified two others as Xavier and Washington.

These things tend to be fluid, however, and SDSU team officials said they had not received confirmation of any opponents. Pitt and Minnesota were previously reported as being in the tournament but both are apparently in other nonconference events. A draw of opening matchups is not expected until the summer.

Xavier went 27-10 last season in the return of Sean Miller as head coach, finishing second in the Big East behind Marquette (and two games ahead of national champion Connecticut). The Aztecs won the only previous meeting with the Musketeers, 79-74 at the 2018 Maui Invitational.

SDSU holds a 3-2 edge in the all-time series against Washington, including a 93-78 win at Viejas Arena in 2016 in the second round of the NIT.

Johnson’s finalists

Keshad Johnson, who opted to enter the transfer portal for his final year of eligibility, announced his five finalists on Friday: USC, Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas Tech and Kentucky.

Johnson, SDSU’s leading scoring in the championship game with 14 points, has already visited USC and Oklahoma. All five are expected to offer high-dollar NIL payments.

Johnson also technically remains in the NBA Draft, although it appears more likely he will return to college.

NBA workouts

Lamont Butler continued his tour of NBA workouts Friday at the Milwaukee Bucks. He previously worked out for the Memphis Grizzlies and is scheduled for the Utah Jazz on Tuesday. Nathan Mensah worked out for the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this week.

The next step is obtaining an invitation to a pre-draft combine in Chicago. The G League combine is May 13-14, and the top performers get an invite to the larger and more prestigious NBA Combine that starts two days later.

A list of 45 participants at the G League combine was released Friday. Only one Mountain West player is on it: Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens.

Two other dates to keep in mind: May 11 (the deadline to enter the transfer portal) and May 31 (the deadline to withdraw from the draft and return to college).