In the modern college basketball world of “one-and-done” and spending as little time in school as possible, Jaedon LeDee is unique. Over his first four seasons, split between Ohio State, TCU, and San Diego State, he only started four games. But, he was not going to be deterred. LeDee knew something special was coming.
“I feel like everybody’s plan, everybody’s journey and destiny, is different. That just happened to be mine and what I felt like I needed to do,” says LeDee. “Anybody can take another year and get better. I feel like that’s always a good plan.”
The plan most definitely worked. On Monday, LeDee was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year by media who cover the conference, and that is very likely not going to be the only honor he earns in the coming weeks.
After scoring a total of 601 points his first four seasons, LeDee has poured in 615 points this year alone. The 24-year-old was named one of 15 finalists for the Wooden Award, given annually to the best player in the country, and the Karl Malone Award, which goes to the nation’s best power forward. He's basically a shoe-in to earn a spot on the All-American team.
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Not that he spends any time contemplating winning those kinds of individual honors.
“I just go out there and play the game and have fun,” says LeDee with a smile. “It it comes out to be that, that’s a blessing. That’s cool but I don’t really worry about things like that.”
LeDee’s rise to the top of the college basketball world seemingly came out of nowhere. In reality, it may have been an inevitability.
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“A surprise to many, not a surprise to the coaching staff because we’ve seen it in him,” says Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher. “We saw it last year where he sacrificed part of his game for the good of the team and now he’s on full display for the country to see and we’re just proud of how he’s done in his final season as an Aztec.”
LeDee is averaging 20.5 points and 8.2 rebounds a game while shooting 55.7% from the floor. At 6’9” and 240 pounds he’s a massive human being so it’s logical to think he does all his damage in the paint. However, LeDee has added range to his game. He’s hitting nearly 40% of his 3-point attempts, thanks to simply sticking with the process and a relentless work ethic.
“I was getting reps up all summer,” says LeDee. “But I think it was more the opportunity. Just the game reps, the game feel. You know, you shoot in practice, you shoot in workouts, but it’s completely different when people are running at you. I think my feel for the game and my confidence just went up a little bit.”
Jaedon works so hard the coaching staff had to alter the way they help him prepare for games.
“We don’t even work him out individually because he works out so much on his own I’d be afraid he’s wear down,” says Dutcher. “Every day he’s in the gym working on his game and all that work has paid off for him.”
LeDee gets double-teamed, and occasionally triple-teamed, and every night he’s on the floor he takes a beating … sometimes slightly outside the confines of the rule book. Through it all, he hasn’t lost his cool.
“That’s just something I’ve gotten used to over the years. My body’s probably just hardened up and gotten used to getting hit every day,” says LeDee. “It’s just part of the job.”
Since LeDee handles the contact so well, sometimes Dutcher has to deal with the officials on behalf of his superstar.
“Because you’re the biggest, strongest guy on the floor doesn’t mean you’re not getting fouled,” says Dutcher. “Sometimes the refs say, well he’s big and strong, he should be able to take some of that. Jaedon gets hit on every play so he’s done a good job mentally staying in the game and not letting the officiating affect him.”
LeDee may not be an NBA Draft pick. But his evolving game and pure physicality have made him an NBA player. But that can wait until after he, hopefully, leads the Aztecs on another run to the Final Four.
