Dave Velasquez enters his 22nd season at San Diego State and 11th as an assistant coach. Prior to his appointment as an assistant coach, he spent six seasons as the program’s director of player development.

Velasquez’s responsibilities to the program include recruiting, on-court coaching, skill development and academics.

With an emphasis on the defensive side of the ball, he’s played a critical role in the team finishing the past four seasons ranked No. 1 in the MW in scoring defense, allowing five fewer points per game than any other team in the league since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. In addition, overall, his defenses have ranked No. 2 and No. 4 nationally in each of the last two seasons, respectively, and have ranked in the top-10 in three of the last four, according to KenPom.com

In three of the last four campaigns, SDSU led the conference in steals and in two of the last four led the league in turnover margin and scoring margin, holding opponents, on average, to double digit points per game less than it scored. In addition, the Aztecs were either first or second in the league in field goal percentage defense in the 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons.

Velasquez also plays a large part in the performance of Aztecs in the classroom. The Bay Area native works directly with San Diego State’s academic advisors, tutors, and mentors to ensure standards are met and exceeded. What may go unnoticed is his relationship with players. As a former SDSU men’s basketball student-athlete and recruit host, Velasquez understands all of the virtues that an Aztec basketball player possesses, which allows him to relate to the entire roster.
   
In his first season as an assistant, Velasquez helped ink a consensus top-15 recruiting class, while helping the Aztecs enjoy one of their finest seasons ever, which culminated in 31 wins, a Mountain West regular-season title and an NCAA Sweet 16 berth. He was also key in the development of Xavier Thames, who was a 2014 All-American, Mountain West Player of the Year and NBA draft pick.