NBA star Kawhi Leonard will receive the ultimate honor from San Diego State next month when the school retires his jersey.
Leonard, already a part of the Aztec Athletics Hall of Fame, will become the first player in program history to have his jersey retired.
He will attend the Feb. 1 ceremony, which will include two-time national coach of the year Steve Fisher. The home game against Utah State at Viejas Arena already is sold out.
During this past offseason, Leonard returned to his roots in Southern California, signing a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Leonard played two seasons at SDSU. He guided the Aztecs to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances, in 2010 and 2011, and two Mountain West titles.
The 2011 run included the school’s first Sweet 16 appearance.
The Riverside native, out of King High School, earned second-team All-America honors as a sophomore. He finished his storied collegiate career with 990 points, 716 rebounds and 156 assists. During his two years with the team, Leonard and the Aztecs compiled a 59-12 record.
In his final year in an Aztec uniform in 2010-11, Leonard received second-team All-America honors from the Associated Press, The Sporting News and FoxSports.com. He also led SDSU to a school record 20-0 start en route to a 34-3 campaign.
The Indiana Pacers selected Leonard with the 15th pick in the 2011 NBA draft. The Pacers traded him on draft day to the San Antonio Spurs, where he made the NBA All-Rookie First Team. He helped lead the Spurs to a championship three years later. Last year, he did the same for the Toronto Raptors. He captured the NBA Finals MVP award in each of those seasons.
Leonard is also a three-time NBA All-Star.
– Staff reports