The annual game against the Charlotte 49ers was turned into a personal H-O-R-S-E competition by the Davidson player. He had a shooting performance that was Curry-esque.
Lee had a career-high 32 points. Lee said he didn't know he had scored that much. My teammates were finding me open.
Lee scored mostly on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, which are his specialty. He had a variety of layups. He went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Davidson coach Bob McKillop called it "Sensational".
Lee is a good shooter for Davidson. He had an extremely rare 50-40-90 collegiate season in 2020-21, shooting at least 50% from the field, 40% from three-point range and 90% from the free-throw line.
Lee was the only Davidson basketball player to ever do that, and he was the 11th Division I college basketball player to do that in the past 19 years.
I asked McKillop to compare Lee's shooting to Curry's, since Curry never went 50-40-90 in college.
It's true that the NBA did that, but it was done by Stephen Curry.
Lee is not Curry. No one is.
Lee is a star for this team. If he plays like he did Tuesday night, Davidson will be back in March Madness for the first time in a year.
The 49ers had won the cross-county game the past two years. Charlotte coach Ron Sanchez said that Lee was phenomenal. He is one of the best cutting guards we will have the chance to compete against.
Lee made 6 of 12 three-pointers and was 9 for 17 overall, several times bailing Davidson out late in the shot clock with a basket at the buzzer.
The coach said that Lee has been making plays for the team all year. He is making 3-pointers, but he is also making two-pointers, and he is also getting to the foul line, and he has a game-high 14 rebound. Some good things happen when you put the ball in his hands.
Lee's basketball roots are deep. His mother won an Olympic silver medal in 1984. She had to guard the U.S.'s Cheryl Miller in the gold-medal game. His father is a legendary high school basketball coach.
The Davidson and Charlotte teams will play at the Halton Arena on November 30, 2021.
Lee had to play against NBA players like Domantas Sabonis in an Olympic qualification tournament this past summer because he is a star for the South Korean national team. South Korea lost by 39 points despite Lee's 11 points and five rebound.
National-team experience has been valuable according to both Lee and McKillop.
The leading actor in a Broadway show will get experience in being a leading actor if he does it a lot. Lee was a member of the Korean national team. It was great for him to have that opportunity.
Lee, who speaks English well despite not having learned it until last year, asked what he learned from that experience. A lot. I realized I was at the bottom.
Lee is self-deprecating, even though he has big goals.
The last couple of seasons, from the scouts I was listening to, I heard that I was weak and slow. I was working on that during the summer.
Lee isn't going to go through three guys and tomahawk dunk in transition, but his ability to come off a screen and get a 3-pointer off quickly is a translatable NBA skill. He was projected as a second-round pick in a few NBA draft projections. He is going to play professionally if he comes out after this season or if he gets stronger and better defensively at Davidson.
Davidson Head coach Bob McKillop talks to his team between plays during a game against the Charlotte 49ers at the Halton Arena on Tuesday, November 30, 2021.
He said that Lee wants to play in the NBA, but for now he is focused on getting Davidson back to the NCAA tournament.
Lee said that he had a lot to work on.
Lee would like to be like a player in the NBA.
It is not Curry.
Klay Thompson is his Golden State Splash Brother.
