San Diego State has added another player from the transfer portal in Sean Newman Jr., 6’1 senior point guard from Louisiana Tech. The Culver City native making his return to Southern California was the second addition and third breaking story this week that could have major implications for Coach Dutcher’s roster in 2025-2026.
After landing sixth year forward Jeremiah Oden on Monday, Aztec Nation got exciting news the following night as Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune confirmed that Magoon Gwath announced he would be taking his name out of the transfer portal.
This decision by Gwath comes with options however. Just like Miles Byrd, Gwath will continue to pursue his NBA draft options while keeping his eligibility in tact.
With the new addition of Newman Jr. in mind, let’s take a look at this team with a more filled out roster including both Byrd and Gwath’s talents.
With Newman Jr. the Aztecs get a pass-first point guard they desperately needed after the departure of Nick Boyd. Boyd finishing his final senior season is being touted—as told by recruiting insiders—close to committing to Wisconsin.
In Newman, the Aztecs will be getting a player with a winning mentality. He guided Fullerton College to a JUCO state championship in 2022-2023 and has taken a similar path to SDSU as 2023 NCAA Tournament South Region MVP Darrion Trammell.
Most intriguing is that the Aztecs are also getting a true point guard. Newman Jr. ranked 3rd in assists in all of Division 1 last season with 7.9 dimes per game and a staggering 42.3% assist rate. He averaged 2.36 assist to turnover ratio last season. By comparison Boyd had a 2.19 ratio last season.
When comparing Newman’s shooting splits even closer we are able to see that his are very similar to Boyd’s as well. While Boyd is a better finisher at the rim, Newman has a nice midrange game that includes a bevy of stylized ways to get the ball in the basket.
A drive, pivot, step back, and fade away shot similar to that of UNLV’s Dedan Thomas Jr. makes Newman Jr. very accurate and a very difficult ball handler/playmaker to defend.
How Newman will perform next season depends on if the SDSU coaching staff view him as a starter like Boyd, or in a backup role for one season like Wayne McKinney III last season. The two approaches have pretty significant differences and effects on the rest of the team.
If he is the starter next season, then it’s likely the Aztecs are done recruiting at the guard position entirely—unless they target a high schooler to redshirt and develop.
If Newman will be used as a backup, will the Aztecs try to recruit another guard to fill Boyd’s place or give the ball handling reins to Taj DeGourville or BJ Davis? Could they still be in the market for a starting point guard?
Another consideration for the pick up is that Boyd is commanding a high NIL price on the transfer portal market. Newman who has a similar skill set could be added to the roster for less money which allows the staff to allocate more NIL funds to retaining key players like Gwath and Miles Byrd.
In the NIL era, Aztec coaches have to wear both coach and GM hats when targeting prospects in the portal. Without the large coffers of deep pocketed power conference schools who can shell out a fortune for a marquee player, Newman may be just the steal the Aztecs were banking on.
The commitment from Newman fills a position of need for SDSU and gives the Aztecs another veteran player on their roster who should fit in well with the program’s culture. A player cut from the same cloth as other Aztecs who were not highly recruited but ready to work will always make that shine of wearing the red & black just a little brighter.
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