What guard Miles Byrd said at San Diego State basketball media day

Miles Byrd was a little-used freshman for San Diego State when the Aztecs reached the Final Four in 2023. He says he’s watched the replay of Lamont Butler’s buzzer-beater against FAU in the national semifinal game “probably over a thousand times.”

The Aztecs’ run came to a heartbreaking end two nights later when they were overpowered by UConn in the national championship game.

But simply having that experience remains a big motivation for Byrd, a 6-foot-7 junior who removed himself from consideration for the NBA Draft to return for another season with the Aztecs.

The return of Byrd and 7-footer Magoon Gwath, as well as guard Reese Dixon-Waters’ comeback from a foot injury to pump up coach Brian Dutcher’s squad, have fans and players alike dreaming big things on Montezuma Mesa, perhaps even another run at the natty.

Dec 21, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; San Diego State Aztecs forward Magoon Gwath. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

“I think we’re more than capable of doing it,” Byrd said during media day. “I think we’ve got to all be everyday guys. We’ve got to all come in here every day with the right intentions and to get better and to work toward our goals. It’s not easy to say we want to get to the national championship but it’s easy to have the mentality and to come in here and work every single day.”

SDSU faces a challenging schedule as it looks to go further than a First Four loss to North Carolina last March. It starts with an exhibition game Friday night at Viejas Arena against UCLA, which is ranked No. 12 in The Associated Press preseason poll. In past seasons, schools were allowed to play closed-door scrimmages. Thanks to an NCAA rules change, they can now play exhibitions in front of fans.

SDSU received votes on 17 of 61 ballots and is just outside the Top 25.

Byrd expects to be able to play after being slowed recently with an abdominal strain.

Here are the highlights of an interview with Miles Byrd:

Byrd on his physical status

“I’ve missed the last week with a little bit of a medical scare. It ended up being a lot better than what we thought it was going to be. I’ve been working back the past few days trying to get right. My goal is to play on Friday.”

Byrd on facing UCLA with fans in the stands

“I think it’s a little different. Obviously it means we’re starting about two weeks earlier in front of fans, where we can’t really work our kinks out. No matter what happens, good or bad, there’s going to be opinions about how we play on Friday. At the same time, I love playing at Viejas. It’s my favorite arena in the country. I love playing in front of the fans at Viejas. The AP poll said the No. 12 team in the country, so I’m excited to be playing against a great team in October in front of Viejas fans. I don’t think you can have it any better.”

Byrd on how big of a barometer playing UCLA in mid-October will be

“It’s subjective. It’s an exhibition. They might not run the same lineups that they’re going to run during the season. We might do the same or we’re going to work on some of the kinks we need to work out. But it’s two high-level teams playing in front of maybe 12,000 fans. Both teams are going to go in there wanting to win the game. I think it’s eventually going to be, no matter how the game starts off, it’s going to be competitive at the end and we’re all going out to win the game.”

Byrd on what it’s like playing in Viejas Arena

“You know what’s funny? I always talk to my teammates, like for us, it’s like a ‘good loud.’ I don’t really know what it’s like to be on the opposing side, on the opposing bench, I don’t know what they’re hearing from our student section or from our fans over there, but for us, every time we get a stop or something and we hear the fans, it’s motivation to go out there the next possession and keep this thing rolling and keep the fans loud and out of their seats.”

Byrd on his decision to withdraw from consideration for the NBA Draft and return to SDSU

“That process was super beneficial for me, but I thought one more year of development would do me even better. I’m two semesters away from graduating. I still can get in the weight room and get even stronger for when my opportunity comes at the next level. I grew a relationship with some of the teams as well, through interviews and through workouts with them, so it’s not like I’m unknown in the NBA community. So I think a year of development with a great team in college, graduating college and gaining maturity and strength would do me good for next year’s draft when it comes around.”

Byrd on expectations for this SDSU team

“We definitely feel it. The majority of the time I’m out in San Diego I’ll have somebody come up to me and say, ‘How do we look this year? I hear we’re really good.’ Word’s definitely out there we have a talented team this year. For us, we’re really just taking it day by day mentality. It’s something that one of our coaches always says, coach Ryan (Badrtalei) always says, ‘You’ve got to be an everyday guy.’ I think if we have 15 everyday guys on our roster this year, I think the sky’s the limit for what this team can do. But we’ve got to hold ourselves to that standard every single day. If we want to be national champions, we’ve got to walk around like national champions every single day.”

Byrd on outside hype that this could be the most special team ever at SDSU

“I think if you look at the talent from top to bottom, it’s not crazy to say. Obviously there’s been teams in the past, the Final Four team my freshman year, that team was really, really talented and really, really old. We’re not very old; we’re still pretty young. But we have a lot of on-court experience, so that’s where you can kind of say we’re an older team. I think the sky’s the limit. I see a lot of similarities from our team to other teams I’ve been on here, but the talent from 1 to 12 to 1 to 15 is just incredible.”