San Diego State's 1940-41 team won small-school national title with a squad whose tallest player stood 6-foot-3; Team enshrined in Aztec Hall of Fame in 2002
Editor’s note: This story has been updated from a piece originally published in 1991, when details and player quotes were gathered on the 50th anniversary of San Diego State’s 1941 men’s basketball national championship.
It was San Diego State’s third straight postseason appearance, and its third straight trip to the finals.“The main thing I remember about that team is it was our last chance, said Bill Patterson, one of six seniors on the team. “The war was coming, we all sensed that, and this was our last time to be together.”San Diego State’s first and only national basketball championship came 82 years ago when the Aztecs won the National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament in Kansas City.
“The starters always got the attention,” Hale said. “One of the things that people don’t realize is that we had good depth. When there were injuries or somebody went down, there were others to help out.”The Aztecs lost the last four games of the regular season, and there was talk of not even going to the tournament, according to a story in the San Diego Union. A crowd of 500 students and fans that welcomed the Aztecs home from a late-season loss helped convince them otherwise.
“Even their coach was 6-5,” Patterson said. “We were in the elevator when the West Texas team got on. They had on these Texas boots and Stetson hats. It was overwhelming.” There were no chants of “We’re No. 1!” following the game. There were no screams, no shouts. San Diego State’s celebration was limited to dinner at its hotel.It took three days for the Aztecs to return by train to San Diego. When they pulled into Union Station downtown, The San Diego Union reported that a crowd of “several thousands students and fans awaited” in “one of the greatest welcomes in the city’s history.
“I believe our team manager, Paul Fern, came up with it,” Patterson said. “Someone asked, ‘What’s your mascot?’ and Paul said, ‘We have a dog.’ He put a leash on it, and it became a big deal as we became successful.”“As I remember, Andy Echle was in an elevator barking like a dog,” Mitchell said. “He got a bunch of guffaws from us and others in the elevator.
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