The San Diego State men’s basketball team will sport a new look this Friday against McNeese State for Native American Heritage Month.
The Aztecs will be wearing turquoise Nike N7 uniforms for the game. The school said the color turquoise represents harmony, friendship and fellowship for many Native American tribes. It’s the fourth consecutive year SDSU has participated in Nike’s N7 program, which is in its 10th year. Nine other schools are also participating in the program for Native American Heritage Month.
The N7 program help fund the team sports and physical activities programming geared toward Native American and aboriginal communities across North America.
Because San Diego has one of the greatest consolidation of tribal nations in the U.S and San Diego State’s campus is located on Kumeyaay, both SDSU and Nike is leveraging basketball as a way to show how Native-American youth can lead physically active lifestyles and be a positive force of change for future generations.
SDSU also has an American Indian Studies department and multiple research initiatives. The Educational Opportunity Program’s Elymash Yuuchaap (EY) Indigenous Scholars and Leaders program at SDSU, meanwhile, has created new opportunities for students to develop as leaders through the lens of their own identities.
This game will the Aztecs’ first home two pre-Thanksgiving homestands after losing to Arizona State last weekend. The game will be carried live on FOX Sports San Diego and simulcast to the Los Angeles and Orange County markets through Prime Ticket.
McNeese State will begin a stretch where SDSU will play five games in 10 days. After facing the Cowboys, the Aztecs will face Eastern Illinois on Monday
The team will then head to Wooden Legacy in Fullerton against Sacramento State on Thanksgiving night, then faces either play Georgia or Cal State Fullerton on Black Friday and wrap up the tournament on Sunday, Nov. 26.
The Aztecs have faced the Cowboys twice before, once in 1984 in Las Vegas and again in 2013 at home. SDSU won both times.