Portland, Ore. ? It has been four years of hard work, struggle, satisfaction and success for Michael Lee.
The Jefferson High senior has been through the ups and downs of a coaching change and of having his role change. He has seen his team bounced from the state tournament as a sophomore, then go undefeated and win the title as a junior.
Lee has just about done it all in his multi-sport career at Jefferson and was rewarded this year when he accepted a basketball scholarship to Kansas University.
Through it all, Lee has kept his down-to-earth personality intact.
He might be the best all-around athlete in Oregon, yet as he walks the halls at Jefferson, he makes time for all those who come up and talk to him. He goes out of his way to help a visitor find a teacher who may or may not have gone home for the day. For Lee, it is just being himself.
Perhaps it is because Lee has seen the downside as well as the upside of high school athletics.
The downside, he says, was his sophomore basketball season. After starting as a freshman, Lee found his playing time diminishing and his role changing as Jefferson not only had a new coach in Marshall Haskins, but also a number of new players who returned to their neighborhood school.
“My sophomore year, I had the worst season,” Lee said. “At times, I really didn’t want to play. I was pointing fingers at some players. I didn’t get the minutes. I went from a starter to sixth man.”
Instead of pouting, Lee used the season as a learning experience.
“When I looked at it, it was just me. I couldn’t blame anybody but myself, and I just stuck with it,” Lee said. “It’s like the saying … ‘What does not kill me can make me stronger.”‘
That experience did make Lee stronger. As a junior he was a key starter in Jefferson’s run to the state title. The Democrats finished 28-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country.
“My junior year I came in with a little bit of a new attitude,” Lee said. “I accepted my role and went out and just played. The state title was the best thing that happened to me that year. That was the cream of the crop.”
This season has been nearly as good. Yes, the Democrats did finally lose, 87-77 last Saturday to Rainier Beach of Seattle, which, with the victory, rose to No. 25 in USA Today’s national rankings.
But Lee said Jefferson, which dropped out of the national rankings, is on the right track. Lee is averaging 26.8 points a game, having scored 26, 28, 30 and 23 points in Jefferson’s games.
“This year I’m playing with a lot more confidence, and that’s the reason I’m putting up the numbers,” Lee said.
Lee’s ability to reflect on his past helped him improve his game. He watched tapes of himself over the summer and evaluated his play.
“I held back a lot last year,” Lee said. “At times I would shoot a three and I would miss and shoot another and miss and then think, maybe I shouldn’t shoot that. Now there’s no doubt in my mind. I’m not second-guessing myself.”
Against Rainier Beach, Lee struggled. He was 0 of 9 from three-point range but kept driving to the basket and finished with 28 points. Then he came back three nights later in a win against Franklin and made all four of his three-point attempts en route to 30 points.
Lee’s role has drastically changed. Last season’s Jefferson team was defined by all-state point guard Brandon Brooks, who was the playmaker and leader.
Lee and fellow Kansas signee Aaron Miles had supporting starting roles as Brooks and fellow seniors Antone Jarrell and Jon Tinnon did most of the scoring. Lee and Miles are needed to score more this season.
“My job last year was to shoot and defend,” Lee said. “Brandon or Aaron brought the ball up. I got a lot of good looks. Now the ball is in my hands a little more. I’m doing a little more with the ball.”
With best friends Lee and Miles as leaders, the Democrats have a different temperament.
They take a quieter approach.
“Last year’s team was more brash and aggressive, and this year we’re a little more laid-back,” Lee said.
Is that a good thing? At times Brooks’ blunt personality carried Jefferson to victory, but Lee says both styles work.
“For us, it’s good to be laid-back,” he said. “We don’t have the same type of people like last year’s team. That team would not have been good to be laid-back.”
One of the keys for Jefferson last season was winning the Les Schwab Invitational. The Democrats’ 76-75 win over Jesuit in the championship game helped spark them to the state title.
Lee remembers the tournament well and even gives thanks to Jesuit for helping pave the way to the tournament title. Jesuit knocked off the No. 1 team in the nation, Rice of New York, then followed by defeating the No. 20 team, Southern Lab of Louisiana, before meeting Jefferson in the final.
“I joke around with (Jesuit’s) Michael McGrain and Vic Remmers and tell them, ‘You did all the dirty work for us. You beat the heavy teams,”‘ Lee said.
“It was fun winning that tournament. I think it was good for Oregon, just for the national exposure. We had a couple ranked teams get beat in Oregon’s tournament, and that says a lot about the state.”
It hasn’t been all basketball for Lee, who also excelled in football. He started for three seasons and played on the varsity team for four seasons. He was a do-it-all player who played running back, tight end, receiver, quarterback, linebacker, punter and kicker for the Democrats, who won the Portland Interscholastic League title and made it to the second round of the state playoffs the last two seasons. Lee was good enough in football to get a scholarship offer from Oregon State.
“I’m satisfied with my football career,” Lee said. “I never expected it to escalate to what it did. I played it because I had the ability to do it. (Jefferson football coach) Tim Price told me my freshman year if I continue to work hard, good things will come.”
Despite his success in football, Lee always intended to play college basketball. His father, John, was a three-sport athlete at Linfield College, and Lee harbored thoughts of playing football and basketball at the next level, but basketball won out.
It also helped that a national power such as Kansas wanted him. Lee was recruited by Oregon, Nevada and UC Santa Clara, and though he saw Kansas coach Roy Williams at summer tournaments, he thought Williams’ interest was in Miles. But Williams also was considering Lee, and once Williams started showing added interest, the decision was easy.
“I went there for their midnight madness, and after I took my visit, I knew it was where I wanted to be,” Lee said.
Lee committed to Kansas before Miles, but eventually his backcourt partner decided to join him at the Big 12 Conference school.
“I’m looking forward to it, and I’m wondering how I’ll react that first game,” said Lee, who wants to study computer technology or business at Kansas. “I’m anxious.”
But first he has his sights set on another state title. Along with Miles and a number of talented players including Brandon Lincoln, Isaiah Jackson-Mitchell, Ray Peterson, Jalonta Martin, Billy Holt and Curtis Lincoln Lee says the Democrats have what it takes to repeat.
“It’s not going to be easy,” he said, “but I strongly think we’re more than capable of winning the state tournament.”
