SDSU Basketball: Jeremiah Oden’s familiar face is Aztecs Newest Transfer Portal Signing

San Diego State landed its first recruit of the 2025 transfer portal. 6’8 Forward Jeremiah Oden from Charlotte who has one year of eligibility remaining.

If the name seems familiar it should be. Oden played as a key member of the Wyoming Cowboys for 3 seasons from 2021-2023. He transferred to DePaul for the 2023-2024 season and then to Charlotte for this past season. A season ending injury caused him to medically redshirt before the year began.

Now Oden the Chicago native is back in the Mountain West for San Diego State’s final run in the conference and he will be looked upon to add some quality leadership along with his talented skill set.

The Aztecs will be getting an experienced player who is going into his sixth college season. He has played 119 games with 86 starts in his career and along with Reese Waters is highest among returning players with 109 games played.

This experience should benefit a young Aztecs team that was plagued with inconsistency last season.

Oden plays the power forward position and will probably be used in a similar role to how Micah Parrish was used: a 3&D glue-guy who can stretch the floor with outside shooting, guard multiple positions, and slash to the basket with the ball handling ability of a guard.

Just check out a few of his highlights from his last playing time at DePaul.

While not the highest 3 point shooter percentage wise overall at 31%, Oden shot 40% from corner 3s (17/42) while playing for DePaul. San Diego State as team shot 35% from the corners last season.

Now this is important because having a great shooter in the corners specifically can space the floor and make teams pay for crashing down on guards when they are driving to the hoop. The hoped for result are more good looks as they pass out to the corner for a wide open 3 point shot. 

On the defensive end, Oden has only played for one Top-100 KenPom defensive efficiency team in his 4 years: a 2022 Wyoming squad ranked 71st. The interesting aspect of that team is that defense also featured stars like Graham Ike and Hunter Maldonado.

The major question mark will be how quickly can Oden learn to play Aztec defense. Coach Dutcher has brought in subpar defenders in the past through the transfer portal and turned them into good defensive players.

What makes Oden a good fit is that he has the size to guard several positions on the floor: an important asset considering the Aztecs like to switch every ball screen which often creates size mismatches. 

Overall Assesment

In Oden, the Aztecs are getting a veteran player with size, shooting range and who is very familiar with SDSU’s program and the standard of work ethic that comes with it. Coach Dutcher and his staff undoubtedly have a vision for how to use Oden in their system.

This may not be a flashy pick-up, but Dutch & Co. have earned the benefit of the doubt with their incredibly successful scouting of players and Aztec Nation should welcome Jeremiah with open arms as the newest Aztec men’s basketball program member.