After one season as a Buckeye, Jaedon LeDee is moving on.
LeDee will transfer from Ohio State and pursue college basketball at a different university. The Athletic's Bill Landis was first to report his name is in the transfer portal. Ohio State confirmed LeDee's intention to transfer on Thursday afternoon.
"Jaedon is a terrific young man," Chris Holtmann said in a statement. "We appreciate the contribution he made to our team and wish him the best going forward."
In his one season in Columbus, LeDee served as Kaleb Wesson's backup at center. He played 26 games, starting twice and averaging 6.6 minutes per game. LeDee scored three points per game, shooting 38.3 percent from the field. Many of his points came from the free-throw line, where he hit 41-of-55 shots (74.5 percent). LeDee also grabbed 1.7 rebounds per game.
LeDee's transfer opens a scholarship, meaning the Buckeyes now have two free scholarships for the 2019-20 season. It also makes it imperative that they land another big man before next season. Without LeDee, Ohio State does not have a backup to Wesson at center. Ibrahima Diallo, a defensive-minded big man, will soon decide between the Buckeyes and Pittsburgh.
Prior to this season, LeDee had never played center. Last week, he said Ohio State recruited him as a forward, but he was moved to center, where the Buckeyes needed depth.
"It's definitely different," LeDee said last week. "It's definitely something I never played before, especially coming from the south where they like to get up and down. Kind of this style of basketball, how people like Kaleb they're all big. It's definitely different, definitely a learning curve. But it's nothing I can't handle."
At 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, LeDee envisions himself as a forward at the collegiate level.
LeDee is the second big man to transfer in the past year. Micah Potter announced his transfer just two days prior to the season opener.
