Practice had been a bit a sloppy at times, but San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher had a wide smile anyway Thursday afternoon.

His team is coming off a 32-point opening win with a roster depleted by injuries and foul trouble, and now it looks like he’ll add two preseason all-conference players to the already enthralling mix.

Starting guard Reese Dixon-Waters was a full practice participant two days after missing the 77-45 victory against Long Beach State with a corneal abrasion in his eye that necessitated a trip to the emergency room followed by appointments with ophthalmologists.

And 7-foot sophomore Magoon Gwath received much-anticipated medical clearance for full contact starting Friday, 6½ months after surgery to repair the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Dixon-Waters should be available Sunday afternoon against Idaho State, likely with protective goggles. Gwath’s most logical return is the following game, Nov. 18 against Troy, although Dutcher left open the slight possibility that he could make a cameo appearance Sunday.

“If he has a couple good days of practice, the temptation will be to throw him out there for a couple minutes (Sunday) to give him a few game minutes,” Dutcher said. “But I’ll have to see how he looks and talk to (athletic trainer Sergio Ibarra) and make sure we’re all on the same page.

“I don’t want to rush him back. I know he’s excited to get back. It’s a balancing act.”

There are two courts at the JAM Center practice facility, and Gwath went back and forth between them Thursday, doing strength and fitness work on one, then participating in non-contact drills on the other.

“What little he was out there today, he looks different,” Dutcher said of the bulked-up Gwath. “He’s a special player. But we’ve got to do what’s in his best interest.”

The real target is Nov. 24, when the Aztecs face No. 7 Michigan in the opener of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. The following day, they get Oregon.

“I think he’ll be ready to play, but he won’t be ready to play at the level he will as the year goes on,” Dutcher said. “It’s just going to take time. And that’s whether we’re playing Michigan or we’re playing games lesser than Michigan. That timeline is still going to be the timeline to getting his timing back and playing at the level we know he’s going to play at a month from now.”

Dixon-Waters also needs to regain game fitness, although not on the same scale as Gwath. He missed four practices with an illness before suffering a scratched cornea from an unknown source (one possible culprit is contact lenses).

Corneal abrasions typically heal in a matter of days with the proper treatment but can be debilitating initially.

“The doctors didn’t feel he should play,” Dutcher said. “Reese always wants to play. But I think as he went on, his vision wasn’t good, he needed medical drops and now he’s in goggles so he doesn’t get poked. It was real. It wasn’t like we could even let him play.”

Redshirting Davis

Dutcher didn’t play San Jose State transfer guard Latrell Davis on Tuesday and indicated afterward that he plans to redshirt him this season given the roster depth. He didn’t rule out a change of heart, though, if he doesn’t like the team’s direction over the next few weeks.

Davis, who has two years of eligibility remaining, seems OK with it.

“The clarity is hard,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m going to be in one game or not. I’m suited up. It could look to the fans like, oh, he’s just not playing me, or this guy gets no minutes. It’s kind of hard. But as long as I know what it is and Coach knows what it is, it’s all good.

“We’ve got a team with depth, so playing against them every day and getting better at areas of my game that I need to improve, I take it as a blessing, honestly. It’s a year I can get better, and the next two years I can shine.”

Food distribution

During Wednesday’s off day, Aztecs players helped distribute food at Hoover High School as part of Feeding San Diego’s School Pantry Program that serves 500 families there bi-weekly.

It is one of the community service events that is part of the MESA Foundation’s NIL payouts to the team. Assistant coach JayDee Luster is a Hoover alum and a member of the school’s athletic Hall of Fame.

A year ago, the players were so moved by the event that they donated a portion of their NIL money to Feeding San Diego to combat hunger. This year, the MESA Foundation announced a “3 for 3 to Feed” campaign, with $3 donated for every made 3-pointer.

The team also started a GoFundMe page to encourage community donations: https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-support-feeding-san-diegos-mission.