San Diego State went from routinely among the most experienced basketball teams in Division I to one of the least this season, with six freshmen or sophomores in the 10-man rotation.

That trend figures to reverse next season, however, after the Aztecs inked only one freshman in the early signing period: Tae Simmons, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward from Heritage Christian High School in Northridge.

The Aztecs have been tracking Simmons for two years and viewed him as their No. 1 target from the high school class of 2025, landing a verbal commitment in early July. They hosted three other recruits on campus visits in recent months, but all three are headed elsewhere.

Simmons is a four-star prospect by ESPN and 247Sports.com, rated the No. 21 forward in the nation by the latter. He averaged 20.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks per game as a junior for Heritage Christian, shooting 66% overall and 80% from the line (which many coaches view as a good predictor of 3-point potential).

The Aztecs currently have no one like him on the roster, able to bang inside and step out on the perimeter.

“I watched him two years ago in summer basketball and just thought he was outstanding,” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said, finally able to comment on him now that he signed. “To have an opportunity to recruit him and get him is just a huge feather in all our caps. He’s what an Aztec looks like: He’s athletic, a great person from a great family, and I think he’ll have an incredible chance to play for us as a freshman.

“He can attack off the dribble, he’s an aggressive rebounder, he dunks everything around the basket, he can shoot the 3 and is working on it. His versatility is what makes him great. … That’s the hardest thing to find, guys who can play a power forward and a wing at the same time. He’s just what we were looking for.”

Simmons signed a scholarship agreement, which is different from a national letter-of-intent that was discontinued this year as the college sports landscape changes with athlete payments. An NLI was binding for both parties; a scholarship agreement merely binds the school to the athlete, not the other way around.

Counting Simmons, the Aztecs have at least three available scholarships for next season. There’s a chance they could land an incoming freshman who waits until the spring signing period, but the more likely scenario is dipping into the transfer portal.

“Recruiting right now is such an end-of-the-year question, depending on who comes back,” Dutcher said. “Obviously, if we return everybody on the roster, we wouldn’t need a whole lot. We have a really good, young, talented roster. Now, we’ll see who wants to be back at the end of the year and what options they have.

“That’s just the nature of all these teams you’re looking at, replacing six, seven, eight guys. Hopefully we won’t have to do that. … I like where we are right now, and if we need pieces out of the transfer portal, obviously we know there will be enough of them there.”

Injury update

Miles Byrd’s sprained right ankle was out of his protective boot and in a sneaker for practice Thursday, but he still looked gimpy and did little more than ride the exercycle and a few stretches.

The Aztecs have Friday off, then return for practices Saturday and Sunday ahead of the Monday showdown with No. 4 Gonzaga at Viejas Arena.

“I’ll be interested to see, after we take a day off and he’s had three days of rehab, where he’s at,” Dutcher said. “If he’s ready, hopefully we can get a day with him on the floor before the game. If not, then he’ll truly be a game-time decision.”

G League update

SDSU alum Jaedon LeDee is averaging 10.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in 22.3 minutes through three games as a rookie with the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate located in Des Moines. He’s shooting 57.1% and is 2 of 3 on 3s.

Malachi Flynn, who played for SDSU in 2019-20, is averaging 23 points through three games, all on the road, with the Austin Spurs as he auditions for another shot in the NBA. He had 35 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals in the G League teams opener.

Former SDSU teammate Nathan Mensah is a current teammate, averaging 3.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks off the bench.

With Kawhi Leonard still sidelined with the Los Angeles Clippers, no Aztecs alums are currently suiting up for an NBA team.