Thunder 'made it very easy' for Michael Cage to support San Diego State at Final Four
Laid out in Michael Cage’s Houston hotel room is a vintage San Diego State jersey, black with red and white trim.
It’s a replica of the No. 44 jersey Cage wore when he starred for the Aztecs from 1980-84, and it’s the same jersey he’ll wear Monday night at NRG Stadium when San Diego State, his alma mater, plays Connecticut in the men’s basketball national championship game.
It’s been 40 years since Cage donned that jersey, but make no mistake, the 61-year-old Thunder TV analyst is in plenty good shape to pull it off. Come Tuesday night, Cage will be back in a suit and tie as he rejoins the Thunder broadcast in San Francisco after missing the last two Thunder games to cheer on his Aztecs in the Final Four.
“They made it very easy,” Cage said, thanking the Thunder for the time off.
“Go support your school,” the team told him.
It’s only right that Cage, one of the cornerstone figures in program history, is on hand to watch San Diego State play its most important game in program history.
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Cage was a high school state champion and All-American coming out of West Memphis, Arkansas, and he was highly coveted by local powers Memphis and Arkansas, coached at the time by Eddie Sutton. Houston wanted Cage, too, as did a hundred other schools.
Cage chose San Diego State, a school 1,800 miles from home, and a program without much of a pedigree.
“A lot of people probably thought, ‘Man, this guy lost his mind,’” Cage said. ‘Why’s he going out there?’”
But San Diego State offered Cage what some schools didn’t. The Aztecs not only wanted Cage. They needed Cage. He was their highest-profile recruit and still the program’s only NBA lottery pick. Cage was drafted 14th by the Clippers in 1984. Kawhi Leonard, who played for the Aztecs from 2009-11, was drafted 15th in 2011.
San Diego State didn’t have an on-campus arena until 1997. When Cage was there, the Aztecs played most of their games 10 miles away at San Diego Sports Arena.
“This was a basketball program that was trying to rise up, just get slightly above ground,” Cage said.
Then-coach Smokey Gaines recruited Cage to do just that.
“If you come out to San Diego,” Gaines told Cage, “I’ll make sure you go to class, I’ll make sure you play basketball, and I’ll build my program around you.”
“He was hard on me,” Cage said. “I almost transferred after my freshman year. He was that hard on me. I said, I don’t know if I can take this dude. I got 20 rebounds last night, he was all over me the next day in practice.”
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In Cage’s freshman season, a senior guard by the name of Tony Gwynn mentored Cage. Yes, that Tony Gwynn. The baseball hall-of-famer who was a pretty good hooper, too.
“I cannot think Tony enough for settling me down,” Cage said. “My head was spinning when I left the Memphis area to go to San Diego.”
Cage also played with Eddy Gordon, the dad of Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, and Leonard Allen, whose son, Jarrett, is a center for the Cavaliers.
Cage averaged 16.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in his college career.
Cage is still San Diego State’s all-time leader in rebounds (1,317). He’s second in points (1,846) and first in field-goal percentage (54.8%). Cage was a two-time WAC Player of the Year and was a second-team All-American in his senior season.
The Aztecs won six games the year before Cage arrived. San Diego State never made the NCAA Tournament with Cage, but they averaged 17 wins in his four years. Cage was inducted into the San Diego State Hall of Fame in 1993.
He’s a celebrity among the San Diego State faithful that’s gathered in Houston.
“It’s been like a reunion for me,” Cage said. “Every day I step outside the hotel I’m running into people saying, ‘Hey, I watched you play. I watched you and Tony Gwynn play.’”
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Cage had a great view, about 25 rows up, of Lamont Butler’s buzzer-beating shot to send the Aztecs into the national title game with a semifinal win against Florida Atlantic.
“At halftime, my palms were sweating,” Cage said. “My palms never sweat! What is wrong with me?”
Cage tried to channel his inner analyst. He told himself not to panic. To take a deep breath.
“My analyst skills are stopping me from passing out,” Cage said. “My nerves were off the charts.”
After Butler’s game-winner, Cage’s daughter, Alexis, called him.
“Dad, we’re going to the national championship!” said Alexis, who played volleyball at San Diego State.
Win or lose, Michael Cage is proud of his school, proud of the No. 44 jersey he once sported, and will sport again Monday night.
“No matter what happens,” Cage said, “I’ll still be smiling.”
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: March Madness: San Diego State great Michael Cage proud of Aztecs' run
