Aidan Mandel Named SBART Athlete of the Week

SANTA BARBARA, CA – Following a superb three-day showing at the SBCC Classic this past weekend, Vaquero men's basketball forward Aidan Mandel was named the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Athlete of the Week.

Santa Barbara's star freshman led his team to a 2-1 record in the Vaqueros' first home games of the season, scoring over 20 points and shooting over 55 percent from the field in all three games. He was named to the All-Tournament Team after finishing with averages of 24 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals per game and hitting 61 percent of his shots.

The former San Marcos High School standout began the tournament with a 24-point, 10-rebound performance in an 83-74 win over Desert on Thursday. The next day, he recorded another double-double while shooting 10-of-18 (.556) for the second straight outing, finishing with season-highs of 25 points and five blocks against Bakersfield.

He closed things out on Saturday with his most efficient shooting day of the year, going 11-of-15 (.733) for his 23 points. SBCC ended up with its largest win of 2022, defeating LA Valley 78-57. Mandel now has at least 22 points in seven of 13 appearances.

The Santa Barbara, Calif. native will look to continue his run of excellent play at the West Valley Holiday Classic, which begins this Friday.