Aug. 17, 2017
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's basketball head coach Brian Dutcher today announced that Kameron Rooks has transferred into the program as a graduate transfer. The San Marcos native completed his undergraduate work at California this summer and is eligible to play immediately.
Rooks, who attended nearby Mission Hills High School, heads south to America's Finest City for his final season of eligibility. In three seasons in Berkeley, the 7-0, 260-pound center played in 83 games (20 starts) and averaged 3.3 points and 3.7 rebounds with 60 blocked shots, 50 of which came in the last two seasons.
As a freshman in 2013-14, Rooks played in 26 of the Golden Bears' first 28 games before suffering a season-ending foot injury. Heading into his sophomore campaign (2014-15), he sustained a left ACL tear, which sidelined him the entire year, forcing him to redshirt.
After recovering from the leg injury, Rooks more than doubled in 2015-16 his scoring and rebounding totals from his freshman season, averaging 3.6 points and 4.9 rebounds, while shooting 57.3 percent from the floor. That year, he nearly averaged a blocked shot per game, rejecting 28 attempts in 33 games, and posted the first 10 starts of his career.
As a junior last season, Rooks played in 24 games and started eight of the team's final nine outings (10 starts overall). He averaged a career-high 4.9 points and nearly matched his personal best with a rebounding average of 4.5. Rooks, who missed 10 games due to injury from late November to early January and was averaging 6.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots at the time of the misfortune, finished the year with a .547 field-goal percentage.
Prior to his four seasons at California, Rooks was one of the top players in America coming out of Mission Hills High. Following the completion of his senior campaign, which ended in a CIF championship, Rooks became Mission Hills' first CIF Player of the Year and was the 2013 San Diego Union-Tribune Player of the Year. Rated the 22nd-best center in the nation by ESPN, Rooks averaged 17.9 points, 11 rebounds and 3.9 blocked shots, while shooting 65 percent from the floor, for a Mission Hills team that set the school record for wins in a season (29) in 2012-13.
San Diego State in 2017-18 is set to return three starters, including an all-conference backcourt of Trey Kell and Jeremy Hemsley, and five players overall (Montaque Gill-Caesar, Hemsley, Max Hoetzel, Kell, Malik Pope) who saw action in the starting lineup a year ago. The Aztecs also add Devin Watson to the roster after he sat out last season following his transfer from San Francisco where he averaged 20.3 points and 4.9 assists as a sophomore in 2015-16. In addition to Watson, SDSU will welcome four-star athletes Jalen McDaniels (redshirt freshman) and Jordan Schakel (true freshman), and three-star guard Adam Seiko (true freshman).