San Diego State basketball transfer suffers potential season-ending knee injury
San Diego State transfer guard Nick Anderson was working out in Houston with his trainer earlier this month.
He was warming up. He drove to the basket. He planted on two feet. His knee buckled.
"It popped weird," said Anderson, who is scheduled for surgery next Friday to repair a full ACL and partial meniscus tear. "I felt something was off. I wasn't expecting that, but I definitely knew something was wrong.
"I was pretty devastated, I can't lie. I'm still going through the process. I've got in a better headspace since then. It was definitely upsetting the first few days, especially after hearing the results. It was a lot mentally, for sure."
It's also a devastating blow for the Aztecs. Anderson, a 6-foot-4 senior guard who averaged 15.5 points while shooting 40% on 3s for Rice last season, was one of their first offseason commits and provided perimeter scoring punch after the departure of three guards in the transfer portal. The Aztecs coaches kept the news quiet while searching for a replacement.
The good news is, after pursuing several veterans and losing one to a commitment elsewhere, SDSU coach Brian Dutcher indicated they are close to signing a sharpshooting wing.
Anderson plans to join the team in mid-July and continue his rehab on campus throughout the summer and fall. He'll push the timetable with an eye toward 2026-27, although it's more likely he wouldn't suit up until the following season. ACL recovery typically lasts between six and 12 months, which means a late November return at the earliest. Nine months would be late February, with only a few weeks left in the season.
"No one feels worse for Nick than I do," Dutcher said. "We're still going to have him here, we're going to help him get through his rehab, file an (NCAA medical) appeal to see if we can get him an extra year but be there for him to support him.
"Players have come out on the other side of this. The question is whether we can get him another year of college basketball. If not, get him rehabbed and get him back into playing shape where he can try to play professionally."
Anderson spent two years in Division III and two in Division I, but he had an extra year of eligibility with a medical waiver from an injury-plagued season at Division I Prairie View A&M in 2023-24 before he transferred to Rice.
"As much as this is about basketball," Dutcher said, "this is about education and being around people who will support you, not when things are always going well but when things aren't going well. We've kind of made a reputation for that, being there for our guys, and we want to be there for Nick.
"It's 100% the right thing to do."
The plan is to start the waiver process immediately, with the hopes of learning the outcome before his rehab is completed.
The NCAA is expected to pass the proposed five-years-to-play-five eligibility rule next month, but athletes like Anderson would have the option of operating under the new or old regulations, whichever suits them better. The old regulations allow four years of competition but allow for medical waivers in between.
"It would be a little less stress to get back," Anderson said of getting another year of eligibility in 2027-28, "but I'll still try to get back for this year.
"I've been known to bounce back from things pretty quickly, but I've never had this type of injury. I've never had surgery. It's all new to me. I'll make sure I get on the court at some point out there. It's not over."
Including Anderson, Dutcher currently has 11 players on the roster: four returnees, three European pros, three from the domestic transfer portal and one incoming freshman.
That leaves two more spots, one of which almost certainly would be used on a perimeter player who could contribute immediately and another likely on a more developmental piece.
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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 5:33 PM.