Let’s get one thing straight. Never, no matter the football’s team struggles, did Michael Lee ever think about pulling double duty.
Lee, a sophomore guard for the Kansas University basketball team, was a standout tight end and defensive back for his high school team in Oregon, and received scholarship offers to play football at Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
And even though he might make an impact for a KU team that has struggled on the football field this season, he never gave it a thought.
“I think I’m probably a much better football player than basketball player,” Lee said. “But I just love basketball.”
Lee, at 6-3 and 215 pounds, is one of the most muscular Jayhawks and he will be called on to muscle up on defense and run the court for the Jayhawks a role he’s comfortable with.
In fact, he knows exactly what he needs to be.
“A spark off the bench,” he said. “I have to defend and run the court. I won’t do a lot of scoring, but they don’t need me to.”
With the loss of two starters, sophomores Keith Langford and Wayne Simien, KU’s two main bench options from last year’s 33-4 squad, will move into the starting lineup. That means Lee’s role off the bench could be crucial.
He, along with junior forward Bryant Nash and freshman Jeff Hawkins, will be counted on to spell the starting five.
“Some of those guys are going to have to step up and do some things for us,” coach Roy Williams said. “We can say all we want about them having to come through, but they have to do it.”
Lee, who averaged 1.2 points per game last season with a high of seven coming in a 105-62 win against Pittsburg State, knows it won’t be easy to replace what Langford and Simien produced last season about 16 points a game combined.
“In all honesty, we’re not as deep as we have been in the past,” Lee said. “But coach isn’t asking us to be Keith or Wayne from last year. We’re just supposed to play hard and contribute where we can.”
Lee’s buddy from Oregon, point guard Aaron Miles, said Lee shouldn’t sell himself short. Lee may not be the shooter graduated senior Jeff Boschee was, but Miles said he’s close.
“I think I can contribute the three-pointers,” he said. “Maybe not like Jeff Boschee, but I’ll be there.”
