SAN DIEGO – Kawhi Leonard, who helped usher the Aztec men's basketball program into a new era of national prominence, will be honored by San Diego State on Saturday, Feb. 1 with a jersey retirement ceremony.
Leonard, who will become the first player in program history to have his jersey retired in the Viejas Arena rafters, will be present for the ceremony, which will include two-time national coach of the year Steve Fisher during the home game against Utah State. The Aztecs-Aggies clash is sold out, but all fans in attendance will receive a free commemorative Kawhi Leonard T-shirt.
Leonard played two seasons at SDSU (2009-10 and 2010-11), guiding the Aztecs to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances, two Mountain West titles and the school's first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2011. The Riverside, California, native earned second-team All-America honors as a sophomore, finishing his storied collegiate career with 990 points (14.1 ppg), 716 rebounds (10.2 rebounds), 156 assists, 98 steals and 45 blocked shots. During his two years on The Mesa, Leonard and the Aztecs compiled a 59-12 record, including a 25-7 mark in Mountain West play.
A starter in 69 of the 70 games he played, Leonard is one of just three Aztecs in the 99-year history of the program to average a double-double for his career. He ranks 10th on the program's list for consecutive starts with 64 and appears on the top-20 charts in efficiency points, efficiency average and points-rebounds-assists.
In each of his two seasons wearing the Scarlet and Black, Leonard led the team in scoring average (12.7 and 15.5 points per game), free-throw percentage (.726 and .759) and rebounding average (9.9 and 10.6). His 10.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2010-11 ranked ninth in the nation. He also led the Aztecs in steals per game (1.4) in 2010-11.
As a freshman in 2009-10, Leonard earned a spot on the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and National Association Basketball Coaches (NABC) all-district teams. He was also the Mountain West Freshman of the Year, a first-team All-MW performer and a three-time MW Player of the Week honoree. In SDSU Division I freshman history, Leonard ranks first in field goals (166), minutes (1,064) and points-rebounds and assists (834), second in rebounds (336) and field goal attempts (365), third in points (433), fourth in steals (47), free throws (85) and free throw attempts (117), seventh in free-throw percentage (72.6 percent), and 10th in blocks (24).
During his final year in an Aztec uniform in 2010-11, Leonard received second-team All-America honors by the Associated Press, The Sporting News, FoxSports.com and the Wooden Award to go with third-team recognition by SI.com and the State Farm Coaches. In addition, the King High School product garnered all-district team accolades from the USBWA and NABC, while the Mountain West honored him with first-team all-league and all-defensive team plaudits, as well as two player of the week certificates.
In the 2010-11 season, Leonard led SDSU to school records of 20 consecutive wins and a 20-0 start en route to a 34-3 campaign. The Aztecs tied for the regular-season title, won the Mountain West tournament and recorded the school's first Division I NCAA tournament victories with wins over Northern Colorado (68-50) and Temple (71-64 in overtime), before losing to eventual national champion Connecticut (74-67) in the Sweet 16.
In NCAA tournament games, Leonard averaged 15.3 points on 24-of-55 shooting (43.6 percent) to go with a 9-for-10 clip from the free throw line (90.0 percent), and 9.5 rebounds. He also recorded 11 assists, four blocks and four steals.
Leonard was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 15th pick in the 2011 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft but was traded to the San Antonio Spurs on draft day. In his first season in the league, he was member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team and in subsequent years has won two NBA Championships (San Antonio - 2014 and Toronto - 2019), capturing the NBA Finals MVP award in each of those seasons.
Leonard, who joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as the only players in NBA history to win the finals MVP with two different teams, is also a three-time NBA All-Star, a three-time member of the All-Defensive Team and a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2016, Leonard was inducted into the Aztec Athletics Hall of Fame.
During this past offseason, Leonard returned to his roots in Southern California, signing a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers in July 2019.