San Diego State forward Jaedon LeDee becomes the first player in program history to win 1 of the Naismith Hall of Fame’s ‘starting five’ awards Jaedon LeDee wasn’t named Mountain West Player of the Year by the conference’s coaches, edged by fellow power forward Great Osobor from
Utah State. The committee that votes on the Karl Malone Award, presented annually to the nation’s top power forward, would like a word. LeDee received the Karl Malone Award on Saturday from a group of five finalists that included Duke’s Kyle Filipkowski, Akron’s Enrique Freeman, Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II and Osobor. He is the fourth Aztecs player in the Division I era to be named an Associated Press All-American, making the third team. He is the first, though, to win one of the Naismith Hall of Fame’s “starting five” awards for each position. “Well deserved,” SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said from his first-row sideline seat at the Final Four. “He’s everything you want in a student-athlete: straight-A student getting his MBA, made the big jump this year in points, rebounds and assists, won games. “You know how that is. You win the league, you get more awards, and we didn’t win the league this year. But that doesn’t take away from the individual performance Jaedon put in to deserve such a great award.” LeDee broke Michael Cage’s 40-year-old school record for points in a season (772). His 263 baskets, 226 free throws, 308 free throw attempts and 1,121 combined points, rebounds and assists are all SDSU records as well. He really excelled in the NCAA Tournament, scoring 26 and 32 points in the Aztecs’ first two games, then getting 15 in the first half against Connecticut before the Huskies finally slowed him down. “When you shine on the biggest stage, you get the most accolades,” Dutcher said. “And he shined in the NCAA Tournament.” Legendary luncheon Before the semifinal games, Dutcher and former SDSU coach Steve Fisher attended the annual Final Four luncheon for head coaches who have taken teams there. Fisher presented Dutcher with a sport coat that all new members of the club receive. It’s blue with personalized orange lining. “It’s very nice; you’re amongst guys you grow up wanted to be like,” Dutcher said. “To have Steve Fisher, who was my mentor, present me with the sport coat was really special.” Do coaches wear them to the luncheon? “Some of these guys who went to the Final Four a long time ago, the sports coats are a little dated,” Dutcher said. “But I’ll wear mine.” Walberg to Fresno State The newest member of the Mountain West coaching fraternity: Vance Walberg . Fresno State hired him to replace Justin Hutson , the former SDSU assistant whose contract was not renewed after six seasons. Walberg comes to the Bulldogs from … Fresno’s Clovis West High School, where he’s been for the past eight years. But he’s more than a high school coach. Walberg is known as the father of the dribble-drive motion offense, the five-out scheme that has morphed into the pace and space style so prevalent in the
NBA and other levels of
basketball. Between separate stints at Clovis West, he spent four years as an NBA assistant and two years as head coach at Pepperdine, where he went 14-35. At age 67, Walberg becomes the Mountain West’s oldest head coach. Hall of Fame Another year, another Naismith Hall of Fame induction class without Fisher. The Hall announces its new class each year on the morning of the Final Four. The 2024 inductees: players Chauncey Billups , Walter Davis , Michael Cooper , Vince Carter , Dick Barnett , Michele Timms and Seimone Augustus ; coaches Bo Ryan , Charles Smith and Harley Redin ; and contributors Doug Collins , Herb Simon and Jerry West (who already was inducted as a player). Smith is Louisiana’s all-time winningest high school coach. Redin coached the Wayland Baptist women’s from 1955 to 1973 and led it to two national titles. Ryan is the only men’s college coach in the 2024 class; he reached two Division I Final Fours, with Wisconsin but never won the title. Fisher went to three Final Fours, won the 1989 title, helped revolutionize the sport with the Fab Five and built SDSU from one of Division I’s worst programs into a national power.