SAN DIEGO – San Diego State senior forward Jaedon LeDee has earned inclusion on the 2024 John R. Wooden Award All-American Team; it was announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on ESPN2 on Tuesday afternoon.
The Wooden Award All American Team is composed of ten student-athletes who were the top vote-getters in the quest to earn college basketball's most prestigious honor. The ten-player team, alphabetically, consists of: RJ Davis (North Carolina), Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), Zach Edey (Purdue), Kyle Filipowski (Duke), Dalton Knecht (Tennessee), Tyler Kolek (Marquette), Jaedon LeDee (San Diego State), Caleb Love (Arizona), Tristen Newton (Connecticut), and Jamal Shead (Houston). LeDee is the third Aztec to garner the honor, joining Michael Cage (1984) and Malachi Flynn (2020) as the only Aztecs to earn the prestigious honor.
LeDee authored one of the most impressive years in college basketball this season and arguably the best single year in Aztec men's basketball history. The Houston native set single season Scarlet and Black records with 772 points, 263 field goals, 226 free throws, 308 free throw attempts and 1,121 combined points, rebounds and assists.
His totals for points, field goals and combined points, rebounds and assists broke Michael Cage's 40-year-old records in each category. In addition, he broke Bob Brady's record of 213 free throws, which was set in the 1952-53 season and Marcus Slaughter's program record of 252 free throw attempts from the 2005-06 campaign. Additionally, his 810 efficiency points, 21.4 points per game, 1,173 minutes and 470 field goal attempts rank No. 2, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6, respectively on the program's single season lists.
On a national basis, the 6-9 240-pound forward ranked in the top-100 in 11 statistical categories, including No. 3 in free throw attempts, No. 5 in field goals and free throws, No. 6 in points and No. 12 in points per game.
He led the Mountain West in field goal attempts, field goals, free throw attempts, free throws, points, and points per game, and was No. 2 in double doubles (12) and offensive rebounds per game (3.36).
LeDee is one of two players in the nation to average at least 21.4 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting at least 56.0 percent from the floor (also: Purdue's Zach Edey) and the only player in the nation who is averaging at least 21.4 points and 8.4 rebounds while also having hit 20 3-pointers. In addition, he is the second Division I player over the last 10 seasons to score 20-plus points on at least 55.0 percent shooting in the first five games of a season, joining Obi Toppin in 2019-20 who did it on his way to the 2020 John R. Wooden Award.
LeDee put the nation on notice in the second week of the season, when in three games concluding at the Continental Tire Main Event, he averaged 28.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.0 steals and added a block. In the three games, he shot 57.1 percent from the floor (28-of-39), including 50.0 percent from the bonus distance (2-of-4) and 84.8 percent from the line (28-of-33). In addition, he dished out seven assists, had six steals and a block.
For his efforts, he was named the Continental Tire Main Event Most Valuable Player, a tournament that featured the Aztecs handing No. 15 Saint Mary's a 79-54 drubbing as well as an overtime win against Washington. Following his MVP performance, he was chosen as ESPN National Player of the Week as well as Lute Olson and NCAA March Madness Player of the Week and garnered his first of two Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week designations.
LeDee, who has been named a second-team All-American by The Sporting News, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Field of 68, a third team and honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), respectively, is a finalist for the Lute Olson Award for the national player of the year and Karl Malone Award for the power forward of the year.