San Diego State will play in inaugural Bill Walton Classic on Nov. 7

LA MESA, Calif. — San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher has not fairly seven months to order tie-dyed jerseys or warmup gear earlier than his Aztecs play in the inaugural Bill Walton Classic.

It could be solely becoming, because the doubleheader on Nov. 7 is certain to be a mashup of the issues Walton beloved probably the most: basketball, the Grateful Dead and his hometown.

“We’ll have to get on board with (Nike) Jordan and see what they’ll do for a one-off special game. I’d love to wear something tie-dyed for that game,” Dutcher mentioned after a information convention Wednesday in the health club at suburban Helix High, the place Walton starred almost 60 years in the past firstly of a hoops journey that took him to UCLAthe NBA after which into broadcasting.

The Bill Walton Classic will be performed at Pechanga Arena, the place Walton performed for the NBA’s Clippers in the early Nineteen Eighties earlier than they moved to Los Angeles.

The promoter, Sports San Diego, is in negotiations to discover a energy convention workforce to face the Aztecs. It will not be UCLA, which will play in the Rady Children’s Invitational on the University of San Diego throughout Thanksgiving weekend, however the Bruins could possibly be invited in the longer term.

Walton died of cancer on May 27, 2024at age 71.

“This is long overdue,” Dutcher mentioned. “Bill Walton was a treasure, and anything we can do to put his name out there, we’re all for it.”

The doubleheader will open with a girls’s sport between USD and UC San Diego.

Walton received two NCAA championships below John Wooden at UCLA earlier than an NBA profession that included successful league MVP in the 1977-78 season and championships with Portland and Boston. The Big Redhead performed components of 4 seasons with the Clippers in San Diego and Los Angeles.

Long after his enjoying days ended, the Hall of Famer was an unofficial goodwill ambassador for San Diego, together with his disposition matching the perennial sunny climate.

Dutcher had a particular relationship with Walton. Dutcher was Steve Fisher’s prime assistant after they recruited the youngest of Walton’s 4 basketball-playing sons, Chris, to play for the Aztecs in the early 2000s.

Dutcher remembers going to Walton’s dwelling close to Balboa Park for dinner.

“It was great. Anyone who’s ever spent time with Bill knows what a great person he was,” Dutcher mentioned. “It was all about everyone else when you were with Bill. It was never about him. And that was a beautiful thing.”

The Walton dwelling, which had a scorching tub and tipi in the yard, turned a favourite hangout for Aztecs gamers, simply because it had been for members of Bill Walton’s favourite band, the Grateful Dead.

“And then to have him sitting courtside at Aztec games, and I think there was an Aztec player or two over the years that sat in that Walton hot tub with Tuffy when Chris played for us,” Dutcher mentioned. “So, what went on over there, I don’t ask. But I know the Aztec family spent a lot of time in that tipi and at the Walton house.”