SAN DIEGO — The San Diego State men's basketball team is in Houston for the NCAA Championship game and they're joined by cheerleaders, along with hundreds of SDSU students, but you know what's missing in Houston? A school mascot.
Uconn's husky made the trip, along with Florida Atlantic's owl, and Miami's ibis, but SDSU just had an oversized logo at a booth set up for fans to take pictures with mascots.
SDSU had a mascot, but Monty Montezuma was officially banned by the school back in 2018 after some students protested - arguing he mocked Aztec culture.
University officials agreed to keep the Aztecs name, but got rid of the Aztec warrior as a mascot and said the names Monty and Zuma would no longer be used.
But after pictures of the booth at the Final Four Fan Fest started circulating online, some fans were furious. And the guy best known for his role as Monty Montezuma says his phone started ringing.
“Hundreds and hundreds of texts and phone calls,” said Carlos Gutierrez. “You gotta show up, Monty. We need Monty. We gotta have the Aztec warrior. Please come out. Just on and on and on. Hey I'll be there.”
Gutierrez dressed as Monty Montezuma from 1990 to 1998 and says he went out of his way to understand Aztec culture because he wanted to make sure he honored it - all the way down to his outfit which he'll be wearing in the stands tonight.
“I'm bringing back the uniform from 1992 that was made and created specifically from Carlos Al Acon out of Tijuana with his conch shell that he gave me back in 1992,” Gutierrez said. “So this is the legit, real deal, OG, Aztec Monty Montezuma.”
CBS 8 reached out to SDSU asking for a statement, but didn't receive a response.
That said, we did find an alum in Houston who appreciates both sides of the issue. “There's tradition. When I got to San Diego State in 1990, Carlos Gutierrez was our mascot,” said Jeff Klubeck. “There was a lot of pride, lot of memory there, but we also have to keep our minds open for the people that want to progress... and move past certain traditional or cultural things that might not have been diverse, equitable and inclusive.”
Gutierrez says his plan tonight is to fire up the crowd and whether you support the mascot or not, there is one thing he thinks everyone can agree on! “Go Aztecs, let’s go!"
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