Standing 6 feet tall and averaging 19.6 points per game, Lady Tiger forward Seandre Lee left little doubt she would sign a scholarship to play college ball. Her fans only wondered where and when.
On Thursday morning, they got their answer as Lee signed a full scholarship to become a Spartan at the University of South Carolina in Spartanburg.
Lee earned Region 3-AAAAA’s Player of the Year and the Region Tournament MVP this season. She was the honorable mention all-state recipient, helping her team to a 29-2 overall record. She was ranked 10th in the state for her per-game point average. Lee scored in the double-digits in 29 games as a senior.
Coach Faye Baker said she is proud and knows Lee has much more to accomplish."Seandre has definitely progressed by leaps and bounds from her freshman year up to her senior year," the coach said. "I still think she has unlimited potential. Going to USC-Upstate is going to be a good fit for her. She will be able to go in there and play immediately, which I think will be very important for her. They are going to hone her skills and she is going to continue to progress. I think she is going to have a great collegiate career."
"Coach Baker is great," Lee said of the high school coach who she said molded her into the player she is today. "I thank her for that."
Lee said she is undecided on her major but is proud and excited about her full scholarship.
"It’s something I always wanted to do," she said.
"It means a whole lot," Lee’s mother Yarmice said. "This is a great accomplishment. She’s not far. It’s a four-hour drive, but she is close to her grandparents and cousins so she is going to be surrounded by family. She is not too close, but close enough where I can get to her when I need to."
"Seandre is a leader so I don’t really worry about her," assistant coach Dana King said. "I hope that she continues to do well and if she continues to show the leadership that she showed here she should have no problems."
Lee said the school will help her reach her potential. The athlete said she met her future teammates during a campus visit.
"The players there are cool and easy to get along with," Lee said. "I watched them practice and they seem like a good team. If I play to my potential, I’ll be one of the players that they can give the ball — their go-to person."
"Seandre is going to have a chance to help out immediately," Lady Spartans basketball coach Tammy George said. "She is an athletic post that knows how to score. She comes from a good high school program and she has a lot of postseason experience. We always want players in the program that know how to win and Seandre does."
"I’m happy she is getting this opportunity," Baker said. "That is one of the main things we try and do — get kids to the next level. For her to be able to go to school and play basketball is just a plus. I’m happy for her and she is very well deserving of that."
Lee’s older sister, Mei-Sean Lee, played for coach Baker during her high school years and got to play alongside her sister. Lee has a younger brother, Sean Lee, who still has two years to play as a Tiger.
"I’m jealous right now," Sean Lee said. "I wish the best for her and hope she goes there and handles business. I want to be better. She is already going so I have to go up there and compete with her. She set the stepping stone, I just have to follow."