Former Kansas Guard Michael Lee Named KU Men's Basketball Graduate Student Manager

Aug. 15, 2007

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<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>LAWRENCE, Kan. – Former University of Kansas guard Michael Lee has been named graduate student manager for the men’s basketball team, head coach Bill Self announced Wednesday.

As a Jayhawk player from 2002-05, Lee was an Academic All-Big 12 Second Team selection his senior season who appeared in 118 career games, including two Final Four appearances (2002 and 2003), with nine starts and a 4.2 scoring average. The bona fide sharp shooting guard from Portland, Ore., graduated from Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in spring 2005.

“I’m excited to have a player back in the program, not in a playing way, but as an ambassador for Kansas basketball,” Self said. “As a player, Mike was an extremely hard worker on the court and in the classroom. His interest in becoming a coach and pursuing a graduate degree has brought him back to KU.”

Following graduation, Lee spent the 2005-06 season with the Harlem Globetrotters. Last year he played in three different locales – with Entente Orleans in Orleans, France, the IBL’s Vancouver Volcanoes in Canada and with the USBL’s Kansas Cagerz in Salina, Kan. Lee’s brief postgraduate basketball career ended when nerve damage in his right shoulder forced him to stop playing competitively.

“It feels really good to be back,” Lee said. “It’s funny, when I left I said I would never come back, but the longer I was away I realized Kansas is a part of me. I fell in love with Kansas from day one and I will be a part of Kansas until the day I die.”

Lee said he plans on pursuing a master’s degree in sports management at Kansas and eventually would like to get into coaching.

“Coming back to Kansas allows me to get my foot in the door and see how things really work on the other side,” Lee said.