San Diego State forward Magoon Gwath wins multiple Mountain West Conference awards
With the Mountain West Conference regular season wrapped up, 2024-25 men’s basketball awards were announced on Tuesday morning.
San Diego State, the fourth-place finisher during the regular season, had several players selected following voting from the league’s 11 head coaches as well as several media members.
San Diego State redshirt freshman forward Magoon Gwath was named Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year as well as Freshman of the Year.
An unranked recruit out of Veritas Prep in Garden Grove, California, Gwath became a late commitment in the 2023 class. He received the offer from San Diego State in late June, committed shortly after and enrolled with the Aztecs that same month. He spent last season redshirting before becoming a breakout star on this year’s team. Gwath started all 25 games that he played in during the regular season, nine points, five rebounds and three blocks per game. He shot 51 percent from the field and knocked down 16 of 43 three-point attempts.
Gwath injured his knee in the early minutes against Utah State on February 22 and was later diagnosed with a hyperextension. He’s yet to play in a game since the injury but has ramped up his workload and was shown warming up prior to last week’s game against Nevada. His status for this week’s conference tournament has yet to be determined.
He finished the regular season leading the Mountain West in blocks and ranked second nationally in block percentage. His breakout game this season came in the conference opener against Fresno State. Gwath finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, making 10 of 13 shots including three from long range.
Gwath had a stretch in late January and early February in which he scored at least 14 points in four straight games, averaging 11 rebounds per game during that time. He had blocked 19 shots over a five-game stretch prior to his injury at Utah State.
Gwath was also one of five players named to the league’s all-defensive team and received honorable mention All-Mountain West honors. It marked the fourth straight year and eighth time in the past 11 years that a San Diego State player has been named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. Lamont Butler earned the honors in 2023-24 following two straight seasons of Nathan Mensah bringing home the award. Jeremy Hemsley was San Diego State’s last freshman of the year in the conference, earning the honors in 2015-16.
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-770033d1c5c4820fdbde4ecf2452e810.jpg "Bodie De Silva")
Bodie DeSilva has been covering sports in San Diego for more than a decade. He previously covered San Diego State athletics for Scout/Fox Sports.