Ripon Christian standout Cade Alger plays behind-the-scenes role for Final Four-bound SDSU

For Cade Alger, practices are his game days.

As a walk-on at San Diego State University, the former Ripon Christian standout has gotten few game minutes and spent a lot of time running the offense of the Aztecs’ opponents on the scout team. It’s been a thankless job that goes without recognition 99% of the time.

But a former NBA coach’s shout-out on one of basketball’s biggest stages during SDSU’s storybook season has made it all worth it.

Alger and the fifth-seeded San Diego State men’s basketball team have advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Basketball Tournament and will face No. 9 Florida Atlantic University at at 3:09 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on CBS.

His contributions behind the scenes have helped the fifth-seeded Aztecs advance farther than any other men’s basketball team in program history.

The 6-foot-8 junior got his brief taste of March Madness in SDSU’s March 18 second-round win against Furman. With just more than a minute and a half remaining in the game, Alger checked in for his first game action since appearing in the Mountain West Conference semifinals against San Jose State. Though he did not record a stat, he was the topic of the conversation of long time NBA coach-turned CBS broadcaster Stan Van Gundy, who saw Alger perform well as a scout team member against the starters in practice.

“Cade Alger had such a good practice offensively with the scout team yesterday,” Van Gundy said, “that he brought some wrath down on the starters because he kept scoring.”

A far cry from the echoes of starters calling out defensive rotations in an empty practice gym.

“It’s tough going against a top 5 defense in the nation every day in practice … but hearing Van Gundy talk about me a little bit, it was really cool to hear that and see that my work isn’t going unnoticed.” Alger said.

It wasn’t his first time on a March Madness court. He saw about a minute of action as a redshirt freshman in a first round game against Syracuse.

“I ended up getting on the floor, because we were down a lot,” Alger recalled. “It was a cool feeling, but it’s also a sick taste in your mouth after losing in the first round of March Madness.

“Being able to go in against Furman, it was really awesome to be on the biggest stage in the world and just realize that you’re one of the few people that get to experience that.”

Alger spent a year as a redshirt at Seattle University before returning to California to spend the past three seasons at San Diego State. Before then, he starred at Ripon Christian where he played three varsity seasons, scoring 764 points, grabbing 282 rebounds and blocking 30 shots. He also played on the Knights’ football and boys volleyball teams.

He started his high school basketball career as an unassuming 6-foot freshman guard on the junior varsity team, but became dominant by his senior year.

He grew up playing point guard but when the Knights called him up to varsity and moved him off the ball as a sophomore, he had no problems adjusting. He hit a growth spurt in his junior season, growing to 6-foot-8. He averaged nine points per game on the team that won a Division VI Sac-Joaquin Section title and advanced to the Division VI NorCal championship.

As a senior he averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds and a block a game. His guard skills never left as he spent time as the team’s ball handler and added a post up game when opposing teams tried to combat his speed with a smaller defender. He was named the Trans-Valley League Most Outstanding Player and led the Knights to the NorCal Division V playoffs.

“His senior year, he was really good and caused a lot of problems for teams,” Knights’ coach Mark Hofman said. “One coach came in and said “He’s D-I” because of his speed and his size and his ball handling at his size.”

He is not the only local Aztec. Lincoln-Stockton alum Miles Byrd is a freshman this year and next season, Modesto Christian’s star guard Bj Davis will join them in San Diego.

As a college athlete, Alger’s role is vastly different from his responsibilities as a high school basketball player, but he has embraced it.

“He’s a phenomenal teammate,” Hofman said. “He is positive … and that’s a big deal on teams. The parts can make the whole better, and he’s perfect for that.”

Alger finds his SDSU role fulfilling.

“Being in the Final Four makes everything worth it,” Alger said. “It’s hard having to go against such a good team every day, but being able to help them out and seeing all that work during the week show when it comes game time is pretty rewarding.”