NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 13 in 2023-24 season

1. Jaedon LeDee (San Diego State)

Across his first four seasons, LeDee played a certain role. He was a minor piece at Ohio State, a bench piece across two years at TCU, and had a more prominent role off the bench during the Aztecs’ run to the national championship game. With changes to that San Diego State roster, it’s fair to say LeDee would have a more prominent role in his fifth year of college ball. It’s even fairer to say he’d take that opportunity and absolutely run with it.

LeDee exploded onto the college basketball scene, averaging 21.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, becoming the offensive tool for the Aztecs. He made more than 56% of his field goals and was perhaps one of the nation’s most improved players. As a result of his fantastic season, LeDee won the Karl Malone Award as the country’s best power forward and was named a Third Team All-American, leading San Diego State to the Sweet Sixteen.

He’d play outrageously well from the jump, including a 34-point, 17-rebound effort in a win over Washington. LeDee helped key nonconference wins over Saint Mary’s (25 points) and Gonzaga (20 points) and had a run of great performances late in MWC play. He’d have 34 points and 16 rebounds at UNLV in the MWC Tournament and really showed up in the Big Dance, with 32 points against UAB and 26 against Yale before his season and career was ended by UConn.