Butler, LeDee earn All-Mountain West honors

Lamont Butler and Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State senior basketball players, have been honored with multiple All-Mountain West honors in votes by the league's head coaches. The announcement was made on Tuesday from the conference office in Colorado Springs, Colo.
 
Butler is the Defensive Player of the Year, a member of the All-Defensive Team and an honorable mention performer. LeDee is a first-team All-Mountain West honoree.
 
Butler's Defensive Player of the Year designation is the seventh for an Aztec since 2014-15 and the third in a row, after Nathan Mensah won the award following the 2021-22 & 2022-23 seasons. In addition, he is a member of the league's All-Defensive Team for the third straight season and his distinction marks the 20th time since the 2008-09 campaign an Aztec has earned inclusion among the best defenders in the league. His honorable mention All-Mountain West recognition is a first for him after garnering third-team all-league honors last year.
 
The Moreno Valley, Calif., native, averaged 9.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.6 steals and was just below a 2:1 assists-to-turnover ratio this year. He shot a career-best 42.0 percent from the field and his 17 offensive rebounds matched a career high. Against Colorado State, on Feb. 13, he achieved his first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and matched a career-high with a 23-point effort against Wyoming on Jan. 23. He totaled 14 double figure scoring games, 10 of which came in conference play, where he shot 44.9 percent from the floor and upped his point production to 9.8 per game and his rebounds to 3.1 per contest.  
 
In league contests, which are what the awards are based on, Butler ranked No. 2 in steals and the guards who draw him as their defender are in for a long night of physical play.
 
LeDee is a first time first-team honoree and it's the fifth time in the last five years an Aztec has garnered first-team all-league designation. He led the conference in points (19.8), was second in offensive rebounds, third in field goal percentage (.555), sixth in rebounds (7.6), eighth in defensive rebounds and 14th in steals (1.22). His 14 free throws and 19 free throw attempts against San Jose State (Jan. 9) are both season highs in Mountain West play. LeDee scored in double figures in each of the league's 18 games.
 
Earlier today, the Houston native was named a second-team All-America by The Sporting News, and last week the two-time Mountain West Player of the Week honoree was named a finalist for the Karl Malone Award, recognizing the top power forward in the nation, and earned inclusion on the John R. Wooden Award national ballot for the national player of the year.
 
San Diego State is in preparation for its quarterfinal game at the Mountain West Tournament against UNLV which is scheduled to tip at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.