Lee in Kentucky's Blue-White scrimmage in 2013
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No. 15 – California Golden Bears | |
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Position | Power forward |
League | Pac-12 Conference |
Personal information | |
Born |
San Francisco, California |
September 14, 1994
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
Listed weight | 224 lb (102 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Deer Valley (Antioch, California) |
College |
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Career highlights and awards | |
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Marcus Lee (born September 14, 1994) is an American college basketball player for the University of California Golden Bears. Following the 2015–16 season, he transferred from the University of Kentucky. He will be eligible to play for the Bears during the 2017–18 season.
Lee attended Deer Valley High School in Antioch, California, where he was a starter on the varsity basketball team. As a junior, he averaged 13.9 points, 13.1 rebounds, 9.1 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game. During his senior year he averaged 17.7 points, 19.5 rebounds, and 6.7 blocks per game.
He led Deer Valley to the 2013 CIF North Coast Sectionals to defeat De La Salle High School from Concord, California.
Lee was a consensus top 20 player in the high school class of 2013 according to various recruiting services. He played in the 2013 Mcdonald's All American and Jordan Brand Classic games and was named 3rd team USA Today and first-team Parade All-American.
On October 18, 2012, Lee committed to Kentucky. He joined Julius Randle, twins Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison, James Young, and Dakari Johnson as one of six Kentucky signees to be selected in the 2013 McDonald's All-American Boys Game as well as the 2013 Jordan Brand Classic.
Although Lee was behind 7-footers Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson in the rotation for much of the season, Lee found his way in the starting lineup over Cauley-Stein for four games in the beginning of the year. Lee scored 17 points shooting 7 for 8 in the regular-season opener vs. UNC Ashville on November 8, 2013, and 10 points shooting 4 for 5 against Texas-Arlington on November 19. However, he was not used very often throughout the season, appearing in only 25 of 40 games and averaging just 2.4 PPG in 6.3 minutes per game. When Cauley-Stein suffered an injury against arch-rival Louisville in the Sweet 16 of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, Marcus Lee stepped up in the following game vs. the Michigan Wolverines in the Elite 8 and scored 10 points, grabbed 8 rebounds (7 offensive), and had two blocked shots, all while committing zero fouls or turnovers. Because of his performance in the Elite 8, Lee was named to the Midwest Regional All-Tournament team, along with teammates Aaron Harrison and Midwest Regional Most Outstanding Player Julius Randle.