When asked to pinpoint the best strategy when facing off against chiseled 6-9 and 240-pound Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State hoops teammate Reese Waters grinned.
Body him? Front him? Double-team him?
“Pray,” Waters said.
LeDee officially is the full-blossom handful his physique always indicated he could be. He will be a big-bodied matchup thorn for anyone playing the 17th-ranked Aztecs, who will take on BYU on Friday night in Provo, Utah.
Instead of being a cog in a rotation of oaks that included Nathan Mensah, Keshad Johnson and Aguek Arop a season ago, LeDee is the front-and-center wrecking ball.
He’s toughness.
He’s intimidation.
He’s the reason opponents will need to load up on fouls and prepare for the bruises.
“I’m just happy the NFL didn’t try to lure him away,” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher joked. “Forget about the NBA.”
San Diego State forward Jaedon LeDee walks onto the court after being introduced before Monday’s game.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
In Monday’s season opener against Cal State Fullerton, LeDee recorded a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds. He finished 10-for-15 from free-throw line, taking more than half of his team’s attempts.
He flirted with the NBA, but returned for his senior season.
“Who doesn’t love San Diego?” LeDee said. “It’s a hard place to leave. And two, I’ll have a bigger role and opportunity to show my game.”
LeDee was pigeonholed as an under-the-basket guy in previous stops at Ohio State and TCU. He’s attempting to expand what he does on the court, from passing to more perimeter shooting.
It will take that versatility to stick in the pro game.
“We’d love to see that through the course of the year,” LeDee said of feedback he received. “We know you had a deep team. Just show my offensive versatility. They said, ‘You go to San Diego State, so we know you have defensive versatility.’ Just show the offensive versatility all year.”
So, LeDee is evolving. He’s trickier to guard. Game-planning worries of other teams will become a sweat-soaked nightmare. It’s his time. The door is kicked open wide.
Strength training has taken on a fresh focus.
“A lot of stuff for me is focused on movement, agility, explosion because I was blessed with the strength,” LeDee said. “So I’m working on things you can get better at. Everybody can play. Everybody can shoot. But who wants it more?
“At the end of the day, we beat up a lot of people on the glass (last season).”
San Diego State’s Jaedon Ledee drives past a Cal State San Marcos defender.
(Denis Poroy)
What clicked for LeDee a season ago?
“I sat out the year before,” he said. “You’ve got to get back into playing. And I was in a new situation, a new place. You’re not going to jump right in. People had been here three, four years prior to me. I was getting to where I fit in.
“By the time we got down the stretch, I was feeling really comfortable with my role.”
LeDee always owned the power. He needed patience.
“Jaedon was ready to do this last year,” Dutcher said. “I wouldn’t let him. He was going too fast. I always said he was just scratching the surface of what he’s going to be. He was capable of doing this last year, but I had other guys capable of doing it too.
“I just thought he pressed too hard (early). He’s playing, I think, within himself.”
San Diego State’s Jaedon LeDee battles for a rebound against College of Charleston in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The Aztecs were thrilled LeDee returned.
“Jaedon’s a talent,” Dutcher said. “He could have probably gotten a lot more NIL (money) somewhere else.”
There was a clear benefit in re-joining the Aztecs because of a system that allows players offensive flexibility if they buy in defensively.
That will allow LeDee to pump up his pro stock. Show he can hit shots beyond 15 feet. Show he can draw defenders and kick out to teammates. Show he can operate in space and guard from baseline to baseline.
“Really good players know they’re not going to go to the NBA and be the man,” Dutcher said. “It’s about playing with other players. The more he shows he’s capable of doing that, the more value he’ll bring to his NBA resume.”
Do that and the complete package could be frightingly great.
“If you’re on his team, you’re great with it because you know he’s going to get fouled or he’s going to score,” Waters said. “Playing against him, you hate it. Because every time it’s either going to be a foul or he’s going to end up getting a bucket.”
And pray? It can’t hurt.
