Jaedon Herbert LeDee (born July 25, 1999) is an American

professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...

player for the

Salt Lake City Stars The Salt Lake City Stars are an American minor-league professional basketball team. They are a member of the NBA G League, based in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City, Utah, and are affiliated with the Utah Jazz. Before the 2016–17 ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

, the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...

, and the

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). The university fields 17 varsity teams (6 men's, 11 women's) in National Collegiate Athle ...

High school career

LeDee comes from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and starred at

The Kinkaid School The Kinkaid School is a private PK–12 non-sectarian college preparatory school in Piney Point Village, Texas, United States in Greater Houston. The Kinkaid School is the oldest independent coeducational school in Greater Houston. The stude ...

, where he grew seven inches during his high school career, shifting from the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

position to the frontcourt. He chose Ohio State over several other offers.

College career

After his freshman season for the Buckeyes, LeDee transferred to

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

(TCU). He played two seasons at TCU, averaging 4.1 points and 3.3

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game, often playing out of position at

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. Dissatisfied with his lack of playing time, he again transferred, this time to San Diego State. After sitting out a season due to transfer requirements, LeDee became a key part of the rotation in his first season on the court for the Aztecs, averaging 7.9 points and 5.3 rebounds coming off the bench. LeDee helped propel the Aztecs to the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

(MWC) regular season and conference tournament titles, and in the NCAA Tournament, their first Final Four appearance and a national runner-up finish. Following the season, he declared for the

2023 NBA draft The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second ...

, but did not hire an agent and ultimately decided to return to San Diego State for his fifth and final year of eligibility. In his final season on the Mesa, LeDee made significant strides as he became a starter and established himself early in the season as a force on the court. In November 2023, he led the Aztecs to victories over Saint Mary’s and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

to win the Continental Tire Main Event tournament, and he was named Most Valuable Player for the event. Although the Aztecs finished fifth in the Mountain West Conference regular season, he averaged 21.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game on the season. With LeDee leading the way, the Aztecs once again made a run in the NCAA Tournament, but fell in the Sweet 16 to eventual champion

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. LeDee led the MWC in

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

attempts and field goals,

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

attempts and free throws, points, and points per game. He also broke several San Diego State single season records including for points, field goals, free throws, and combined points, rebounds, and assists. He was named to the All-Mountain West first team and was named Conference Player of the Year by the conference media. Nationally, LeDee was named ESPN, Lute Olson, and NCAA March Madness Player of the Week (once each) and Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week twice. He was named a second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

by ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'',

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...

and a third-team All-American by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. He was also named a John R. Wooden Award All-American. On April 6, 2024, LeDee was named by the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

as the winner of the 2024

Karl Malone Award The Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate power forward. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded s ...

, awarded to the best

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

in the nation. He is the first winner of the award in SDSU history.

Professional career

Iowa Wolves (2024–2025)

After going undrafted in the

2024 NBA draft The 2024 NBA draft was the 78th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft. Unlike recent years, the 2024 draft took place over two nights. This was the first NBA draft to be held on multiple nights since the draft ...

, LeDee joined the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

for the

2024 NBA Summer League The 2024 NBA Summer League (branded as ''NBA 2K25'' Summer League 2024 for sponsorship reasons) was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas ...

and on September 25, 2024, he signed with the team. However, he was waived on October 2 and on October 25, he joined the

Iowa Wolves The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Des Moines, Iowa, and are affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena and compete in the Western ...

Salt Lake City Stars (2025–present)

On February 2, 2025, LeDee was traded to the

of the

in exchange for Babacar Sané.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, 26 , , 2 , , 6.6 , , .383 , , .000 , , .745 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , .1 , , .2 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

, 30 , , 0 , , 11.7 , , .523 , , — , , .706 , , 2.9 , , .1 , , .4 , , .4 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 1 , , 15.2 , , .538 , , .000 , , .700 , , 3.9 , , .3 , , .3 , , .1 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 39 , , 1 , , 18.1 , , .489 , , .000 , , .728 , , 5.3 , , .9 , , .5 , , .4 , , 7.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 32.6 , , .560 , , .444 , , .734 , , 8.4 , , 1.3 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , 21.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 154 , , 40 , , 17.8 , , .528 , , .328 , , .728 , , 4.7 , , .6 , , .6 , , .4 , , 8.9

References

External links

San Diego State Aztecs bioTCU Horned Frogs bioOhio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:LeDee, Jaedon 1999 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Houston Iowa Wolves players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Power forwards San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball players TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball players The Kinkaid School alumni