Trey White named Mountain West Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
SDSU's Trey White (center) forced a fumble that Tano Letuli recovered for a touchdown. (Tammy Ryan/EVT)
Trey White named MW Preseason DPOY
Trey White received Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors at the Mountain West media day on Wednesday.
At San Diego State’s final Mountain West media day, White earned the preseason player of the year award. White came out of Eastlake High School in 2022 as a three-star recruit. He ranked 166th in the entire state of California according to 247Sports. He garnered offers from the University of Arizona, Columbia, Penn, Northern Arizona University, and San Diego State. White chose the Aztecs in October of 2021.
White has been an Aztec for three seasons.
He decided to redshirt his first season and became a team captain last season in 2024. Last year, White became a wrecking ball on the field. He led the Aztec defense and was a first-team All-MW performer last year after totaling 60 tackles (40 solo), 18.5 tackles for loss (No. 1 in MW, No. 7 (tied) in FBS), 12.5 sacks (No. 1 in MW, No. 5 (tied) in FBS), two pass breakups and a forced fumble. White’s 12.5 sacks were tied for the third most in SDSU single-season history.
Coach Lewis trusted White to start all 12 games last year at the EDGE position in the Aztecs’ 4-2-5 defense, a change from the Long-Hoke era of 3-3-5 defense. Oliver Hodgkinson of College Football Network said that, “No returning player had more sacks per game (1.04) than White last fall, who has a nose for the ball and violence in his blood.”
White becomes the first SDSU defensive lineman to be a preseason defensive player of the year and fourth overall. White joins Leon McFadden (2012), Damonte Kazee (2016), and Patrick McMorris (2022) to earn the honor of preseason defensive player of the year.
Last season, White also earned AP midseason All-American praise as well. While the Aztecs struggled last year, Trey White continually provided stellar defense and had a Myles Garrett-esque impact on defense for the Aztecs. Be on the lookout for him to continually impact games at the EDGE position again this year.
Read more about San Diego State athletics on EVT’s Aztecs page.
A Southern California kid from San Clemente, he attended Gonzaga University and obtained a degree in sports management with minors in digital marketing and public relations. Max has been a San Diego sports fan for life.