SAN DIEGO – San Diego State senior Jaedon LeDee, who declared for the 2023 NBA Draft but did not hire an agent and maintained his college eligibility, has withdrawn his name from draft consideration and will return to the Aztecs basketball program for the 2023-24 campaign, the forward announced on Tuesday. The decision to return to The Mesa comes after gaining feedback from NBA teams.
"I got great feedback from the people and organizations I met with and know what I need to work on to achieve my goal of playing at the next level," LeDee said. "With that being said, I'm excited to continue my journey at San Diego State and help lead the team to another Mountain West title and back to the postseason in 2023-24."
After sitting out the 2021-22 season due to NCAA transfer rules, last year, his first season competing for the Aztecs, he averaged 7.9 points and 5.3 rebounds and helped the team to reach the national championship game at the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
LeDee appeared in all 39 games, including a start versus UC San Diego on December 20, 2022, and averaged 18.0 minutes per game. He shot the ball at a 48.9 percent clip (109-of-223) and hit 72.8 percent of his free throws (91-of-125) as he set career highs in nearly every statistical category.
His 309 points are more than double his previous high for a season and he returns next year as the third leading scorer on the team. In his first three seasons of college basketball, one at Ohio State and two at TCU, he totaled eight 10-plus point scoring games. For the Aztecs last year, he scored in double figures in 11 contests, including matching his single-game career best 23 points vs. Brigham Young on November 11, 2022.
The Houston native, had 23 games of shooting 50.0 percent or better from the floor and SDSU was 19-4 in those contests, including a pair of double doubles: at Utah State, on February 8, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and versus Utah State, on March 11, in the Mountain West Tournament title game, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
A relentless worker on the boards, his 80 offensive rebounds were the second most on the team and ranked No. 7 in the Mountain West. In addition, his 205 total rebounds were No. 17 in the league and second on the squad and he returns next year as the leading rebounder for the Aztecs. He led the team in rebounds in 13 games (SDSU was 11-2 in those contests), including three games with double digit boards: 12 vs. UC San Diego, at Utah State and vs. Utah State in the Mountain West Tournament. In 22 contests he pulled down at least five rebounds and, in those games, SDSU was 20-2.
In three games in the 2023 Mountain West Tournament, he shot 50.0 percent from the floor and averaged 8.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, to go along with three blocked shots to earn inclusion on the Mountain West All-Tournament team.
LeDee is one of 11 Aztecs, since the start of the Dutcher/Fisher era, to have a game, versus Kennesaw State on December 12, 2022, with at least 11 free throw attempts in which he shot at least 90.0 percent from the line.
LeDee is expected to compete for a starting job in 2023-24 and in the 12 games in which he played at least 20 minutes, including a career-high 28:35 vs. Brigham Young, the Aztecs were 11-1.
SDSU finished last season ranked No. 2 in the nation in the Coaches Poll, the highest in program history, and No. 18 in the Associated Press with a 32-7 record, including a 15-1 mark in Mountain West action. SDSU's win total was the second highest in program history, trailing only the 2010-11 squad which won 34 games.
With him back for 2023-24, taking advantage of the NCAA's offer of an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, San Diego State returns three of its top four scorers from last year.