Miles Byrd reaffirms commitment to San Diego State, NBA Draft process

Byrd averaged double figures in his first season as a starter in 2024-25

San Diego State Aztecs guard Miles Byrd (21). | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The first three days of this week have been huge for San Diego State fans as head coach Brian Dutcher and staff continue to put the pieces together on next season’s basketball roster.

Jeremiah Oden, a sixth-year senior forward, kicked things off on Monday when he announced that he’ll spend his final season with the Aztecs after previous stops at Wyoming, DePaul and Charlotte.

The next domino fell when redshirt freshman forward Magoon Gwath announced that he was withdrawing his name from the transfer portal just over a week after he entered. Gwath spent his first two seasons at San Diego State, redshirting in 2023-24 before breaking out this past season on his way to winning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

During his brief stay in the portal, Gwath entertained interest from schools across the country, most notably Kentucky and Michigan. He’ll remain an early entrant in the NBA Draft, going through the process over the next couple months to learn how he stacks up in the eyes of NBA executives.

Sean Newman Jr. joined the mix on Wednesday morning when he committed to the Aztecs, giving San Diego State a point guard out of the transfer portal who can distribute the ball at a high level. Expected to slot in for Nick Boyd, Newman Jr. played the past two seasons at Louisiana Tech and was third nationally in assists this past season.

On Tuesday night, Miles Byrd gave Aztec fans another reason to be excited when he doubled down on his intentions not to enter the transfer portal. Last week Byrd announced that he will be going through the NBA Draft process this offseason alongside Magoon Gwath. If the duo does decide to remove their names from the draft, they’ll have until June 15 to do so.

Hell of a night for Aztec fans! @_mbyrd21 is an Aztec For Life 🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/8zb8GgzCcP

— Jon Schaeffer (@jonschaeffer) April 2, 2025

Byrd had previously discussed his plans during media availability towards the end of the regular season.

“No portal for me,” he said. “If I’m coming back to college, I’m coming back to SDSU… Maybe do pre-draft stuff with my agency and see where that takes me.”

With two portal commitments under their belt this week and the return of Magoon Gwath, it remains to be seen what head coach Brian Dutcher and staff may be looking for in the portal or possibly from a high school recruit. The dead period for recruiting begins at midnight on April 3, precluding teams from hosting recruits for the next week.