HOUSTON – HBU has signed Darius Lee to a National Letter of Intent to join the Huskies' basketball team, James Sears Bryant Head Men's Basketball Coach
Ron Cottrell announced Tuesday.
"We cap this year's recruiting class with the addition of another true winner both on and off the court," Cottrell said. "Darius Lee is a highly accomplished player, who earned First-Team NJCAA All-America and Conference and Region Player of the Year awards, while leading his SUNY Sullivan team to a pandemic-shortened season record of 28-2."
Lee is a 6-foot-6, 230-pound wing from Harlem, New York, who played two seasons at SUNY Sullivan and prepped at St. Raymond High School for Boys. This past season, he was team captain, earning National Junior College Association of America (NJCAA) Division II All-America First Team, Mid-Hudson Conference Player of the Year and First-Team All-Conference, Region XV Player of the Year and First-Team All-Region and Region XV Tournament MVP honors. Lee led the Generals to the Mid-Hudson Conference Championship, Region XV Championship and East District Championship to earn the No. 4 seed at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament and finished the season ranked second in the national poll.
"Darius' hard work at St. Raymond and SUNY Sullivan were instrumental in his growth and development as a player and a person," Cottrell said. "Like several of our other newcomers, Darius is a highly-versatile and efficient player, who can play several spots on the floor in our system. He is a multi-faceted player, who can score at all levels, defends and rebounds very well and distributes the ball to his teammates effectively, because of his high basketball IQ. There is no doubt Darius will come to HBU ready to make an immediate contribution to our program and our campus community. We couldn't be happier to have Darius and his family join our family at HBU."
Lee averaged 18.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.0 block and 1.3 steals per game during the 2019-20 campaign. He shot 61.1 percent from the field, 26.1 percent from beyond the arc and 74.6 percent from the free-throw line. As a freshman at Sullivan, he averaged 14.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game to claim Mid-Hudson Conference and Region XV First-Team accolades, as well as Region XV Tournament MVP. In his senior season at St. Raymond, Lee averaged 16.5 points per game.
"I chose HBU because they were very focused on me and my personality," Lee said. "I felt they really wanted me to be a part of their family, and not just basketball. I want to thank my mom, dad, all my family members, Coach Wilson, Coach Simon, Coach Chris, Coach Rose, Coach Preston and all of my friends who have supported me during my journey."
Lee joins HBU's previous signees: guard Jade Tse from Queens, New York; guard Tay Boothman from Buckeye, Arizona; guard Brycen Long from Gilbert, Arizona; wing Pedro Castro from Fort Worth, Texas; and forward Cameron Hart from Lufkin, Texas.
HBU Basketball 2020 Recruiting Class
Tay Boothman - G - 6-1 - 160 - Buckeye, Ariz./Buckeye
Pedro Castro - G/F - 6-6 - 185 - Fort Worth, Texas/Brewer/UT Arlington/Blinn
Cameron Hart - F - 6-7 - 215 - Lufkin, Texas/Lufkin/Angelina
Darius Lee - G/F - 6-6 - 230 - Harlem, N.Y./St. Raymond/SUNY Sullivan
Brycen Long - G - 6-2 - 175 - Gilbert, Ariz./Gilbert
Jade Tse - G - 6-1 - 185 - Queens, N.Y./Deerfield Academy/Salt Lake CC
