We are less than 5 weeks away from the tip-off of a new college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with San Diego State G Naomi Panganiban, who talked about winning her conference tourney title game in triple-OT last March and her expectations for this season.
You were born/raised in San Diego and in addition to basketball you were a great track and field athlete in high school: how much of an advantage is your running/jumping ability on the basketball court? Track and field helped me stay conditioned in the offseason and the plyometrics helped my jumping and injury prevention. It definitely played an important part in my transition to college basketball.
What made you choose San Diego State? I chose SDSU because of how welcoming everybody made me feel and the coaching staff. Being from San Diego, I grew up watching games in Viejas and it has always been a dream of mine to play here.
You play for Coach Stacie Terry-Hutson: what makes her such a good coach, and what is it like to have her husband Justin as 1 of your assistant coaches? What makes Stacie a good coach is the environment and culture she helps create for the team and her ability to work under pressure. I think Justin was a great addition to the team because he has a lot of knowledge of the game and helps us get better as players individually.
You made your debut for the Philippines senior’s women’s team in 2024: how big is basketball among Filipinos? Basketball is huge in the Philippines: it really is a kind of religion.
Last year you were named to the conference All-Freshman Team and your 10.3 PPG was the most in the conference among true freshmen: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I try to come in the game and do whatever the team really needs in that moment. I like to think as myself as someone can make plays for both myself and for others. Luckily, I had teammates and coaches who really believed in my ability, which made it easy for me to showcase what I can do.
Joining you on the All-Freshman Team was Nat Martinez, whose 41.9 3P% was 5th-best in school history: even though you 2 are just sophomores, are you ready to be leaders this year since you lost 7 of your top-9 scorers from last year (Veronica Sheffey/Adryana Quezada/Kim Villalobos/Cali Clark/Khylee Pepe/Erin Houpt/Jazlen Green)? We are definitely trying to fill that leadership role this year and help show the newcomers the ropes to keep our winning culture. This past year we both learned a lot from the experiences and from the upperclassmen who helped us.
You were also named to the conference All-Academic Team: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? It gets tough at times, but what really helped me is time management and giving myself a break when I need it. During the season, things are very fast-paced and hectic so taking advantage of the resources and support we have helps a lot.
Take me through the 2025 postseason:
In the conference tourney title game you scored 17 PTS in 46 minutes in a 4-PT 3-OT win over Wyoming: what are your memories of the 1st D-1 conference final to last at least 3 OTs since 2013? I remember it being back-and-forth the entire game. Every time we thought it was going to end, another overtime came! I remember just thinking to push through. We wanted to win so badly: when the buzzer finally went off, everyone felt so relieved.
In the NCAA tourney you scored 5 PTS in a 59-PT loss at LSU: did you learn anything from that game that can help you this season or do you try to not think about it at all? I learned a lot of valuable lessons from that game. One of them was to stay locked in even when your game plan is not working. Another is to focus on what you can control and play at your own pace.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goal is to be someone who my teammates and coaches can consistently rely on, whether that is getting a bucket, bringing energy, or being a leader. I am very excited for this season and to see what we can do. We have a new squad with a lot of talent so hopefully we can continue the momentum from last year and go back-to-back.
