SAN DIEGO (CNS) -- Former San Diego State University point guard Malachi Flynn was named the 2019-20 Mountain West Male Athlete of the Year this week.
He is the third SDSU student-athlete to receive the award, following in the footsteps of football's Rashaad Penny and track and field's Shanieka Thomas, who were the 2017-18 MW Male Athlete of the Year and 2012-13 MW Female Athlete of the Year, respectively. The announcement was made Wednesday at the conference's office in Colorado Springs, Colo.
On April 17, following his junior season, the Tacoma, Wash., native declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft and hired an agent, ending his college eligibility.
In addition to superior athletic achievement, criteria for the MW Athlete of the Year Award requires that the nominees be in good academic standing throughout their season of competition, and demonstrate good character and conduct on and off the playing field.
In 32 games, all starts, Flynn led the Aztecs to the 2019-20 Mountain West regular-season championship, the program's conference-record 12th Mountain West title. He averaged 17.6 points, 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. He added 56 steals and three blocks in 1,072 total minutes on the floor.
Among Mountain West performers, he ranked first in assists, assist-to-turnover ratio and steals, third in scoring and free-throw percentage, fifth in field-goal percentage and three-point field goals and eighth in minutes.
Flynn was named a second-team All-American, joining SDSU Hall of Famers Michael Cage and Kawhi Leonard as the third consensus All-American in program history.
His accomplishments in the classroom included being honored as an Aztec Scholar-Athlete, Academic All-Mountain West designee, and inclusion on the NABC Honors Court. He majored in interdisciplinary studies.
SDSU finished the regular season as the only team in Division I with a single loss, with a 28-1 record. When competition was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Aztecs were one of three teams along with Gonzaga and Dayton with only two losses on the year. The Aztecs set team records for consecutive wins and wins to open a season with 26 and were the last undefeated team in the nation, holding that distinction for 39 days.
