LAS VEGAS – Three thoughts from San Diego State’s 73-70 overtime win against No. 6 Houston in the third-place game of the Players Era Festival on Saturday

1. A great first impression

The whispers from the basketball community were that the new eight-team event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with grandiose promises of a loaded field and seven-figure NIL payouts, would be the sports version of the Fyre Festival, the ill-fated music festival in The Bahamas in 2017 that resulted in a six-year prison sentence for fraud by the main promoter.

Hotel rooms wouldn’t be ready. The arena wouldn’t be set up. Officials wouldn’t be booked. TV partners wouldn’t materialize. The $1 million NIL checks wouldn’t clear.

Maybe the skepticism was based on the event’s novelty and its unprecedented financial pledge when nonconference tournaments traditionally struggle to draw fans. Or maybe it was sheer jealousy by those not invited, or those who were but opted not to attend.

The reality: They pulled it off.

“It made a great first impression,” said Oregon coach Dana Altman, whose soon-to-be-ranked Ducks beat No. 9 Alabama 83-81 in Saturday night’s championship game worth an additional $500,000. “They have treated us really well. We fly in, check into the hotel, everything is laid out, everything is organized. Our meals have been great. We had three top-level officials today.

“Those are things as a coach you look for in an event. It’s been a very well-run event.”

Three of the 12 games went to overtime. Five more were decided by five or fewer points. The average margin of victory in Saturday’s four games was 3.3 points.

“It was a no-brainer for us,” SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said. “It was like, yes, anytime, any place. The question was, Is the money really going to be there? Yeah, the money is critically important and this is a great event for that. But for us to play this talent level we get to play, an hour flight from our campus, I don’t want to tell them this because they might not pay us, but I’d have come for free to play this kind of competition.”

As for the money … that question should be answered later this week. Organizers said the $1 million promised to each program’s NIL collective was placed in an escrow account before the event and will be released five days after it.

The Aztecs have a three-year contract with the Players Era Festival. They’re also slated to play in the 2026 Maui Invitational.

If $1.15 million – $1 million plus an extra $150,000 for finishing in third place – lands in the MESA Foundation’s account, you figure Maui organizers, who have already announced seven teams for 2026, will be looking for an eighth.

The idea behind the 2024 Players Era Festival was less to turn an immediate profit than grab control of November basketball and create, in their terms, the first leg of the sport’s triple crown with conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament. It was a rush to put together in a year amid shifting NCAA regulations, but the thinking was if they didn’t, someone else would.

Next year’s event is expected to grow to 18 teams, with the addition of Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan and Iowa State. They’ll be divided into three-team pods where you play twice over three days. The final day will feature placement games at three different Las Vegas arenas.

“We’re big believers in college basketball as an undervalued asset,” Players Era CEO Seth Berger said, “and that the amount these players are getting paid now is going to be really small in comparison to what’s going to be coming in future years.

“I think it’s pretty clear that Vegas is an amazing destination for basketball. My bet is next year there are going to be a lot of people saying, ‘We’re going to do Thanksgiving in Vegas to go watch Players Era.’”

San Diego State guard Nick Boyd, right, loses the ball while driving against Houston forward Joseph Tugler (11) and guard Milos Uzan (7) during overtime of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

2. To foul or not to foul

Up by three points, 7.7 seconds left, Houston ball.

Dutcher usually purposely fouls in that situation – leading by three inside 10 seconds to go – so the opposing team doesn’t get an opportunity for a tying 3. You surrender two free throws instead.

But what makes Dutcher an elite coach is his flexibility in the particular circumstance. Nothing is set in stone. “Case by case,” he likes to say.

The Cougars presented a different challenge, and Dutcher did not instruct his players to automatically foul.

There was the issue of rebounding in case Houston made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, with the Cougars crushing the Aztecs on the offensive boards most of the afternoon. Then there was the issue of inbounding without a timeout against one of the nation’s most suffocating defenses (and an officiating crew that wasn’t, ahem, calling everything). Then there was the issue, if they did get the ball inbounded, of making free throws themselves, something they also struggled with Saturday.

So they played it straight as the Cougars got the ball to leading scorer LJ Cryer off a flare screen. Cryer, with Nick Boyd on him, took a few dribbles, then launched a contested step-back 3 from deep that rimmed out at the buzzer.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson reasoned it was the right decision.

“I don’t think, the way his defense was set up, I would have fouled,” Sampson said. “The defense was too good. I wouldn’t have fouled us, the way they guarded. They guarded the crap out of us.”

San Diego State forward Jared Coleman-Jones (31) looks to shoot against Houston forward JWan Roberts (13) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

3. Big nights

After his rotation of four bigs contributed 15 points and eight turnovers in a combined 77 minutes in Wednesday’s loss against Oregon, continuing a theme of anemic productivity, Dutcher was asked if he might consider going small with a four-guard lineup as an alternative.

Dutcher noted that three are underclassmen and that they faced three of the nation’s best centers in back-to-back-to-back games, then added:

“I like my bigs. I think they’re more than capable.”

His patience was rewarded. Middle Tennessee grad transfer Jared Coleman-Jones made three 3s (and nearly a fourth that a video review reduced to a 2) en route to 16 points after not hitting double figures all season. Freshman Pharaoh Compton had 13 points and would have had more if he didn’t go 1 of 5 at the line. Redshirt freshman Magoon Gwath had six points and five blocks, and the Aztecs were a team-leading plus-11 points in his 27 minutes.

For Coleman-Jones, this kind of perimeter range was expected after shooting 44.2% behind the arc last season at Middle Tennessee. It was just a matter of adjusting to a higher level of basketball.

And Gwath leads Division I in blocks, so another five wasn’t a surprise.

The most promising development was Compton, the four-star recruit who chose the Aztecs over several power conference suitors – Houston among them.

It was his first visit as a high school junior, before settling on SDSU in a move that may have raised eyebrows among some. There is no ill will toward the Cougars, but the natural inclination is to prove you made the right decision.

“I took it personal,” Compton said.

The game-to-game improvement over the season’s first three weeks has been tangible, and Saturday offered yet another dimension.

“We called his number tonight,” Dutcher said. “We ran post-up plays for him, which we hadn’t run yet this year. I wanted to give him the ball in the low post, and he produced when we put it there. I’m proud of him.

“This is a pretty good young freshman right here. He played as good as bigs as you’re going to play over a four-game series. He shows he belongs out there, and he’s getting better every game. Nothing but bright sun ahead.”