For Texas women’s basketball, the offseason isn’t always a time for relaxation, particularly for guard Jordan Lee, a sophomore.
International action begins as collegiate basketball pauses for the summer. In order to help Team USA win a gold medal in the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup, Lee flew to the Czech Republic.
“The fact that you’re representing something greater than yourself and that you carry that same pride across different teams,” Lee said. Being on that stage and representing something of that size is one of the fortunate possibilities I have.
When Lee got back to Austin, head coach Vic Schaefer offered her a few days off, but she immediately went back to work. After a noteworthy freshman season, Lee is expected to perform better than ever in the upcoming season.
Lee, a highly regarded player from Stockton, California, was listed by ESPN as the ninth best player in the class of 2024. She quickly established herself at Texas. She started five games, including the NCAA Tournament’s first and second rounds, after coming off the bench.
Lee, who shot 39.3% from beyond the arc and led the team in three-pointers with 42 last season, stepped up when the Longhorns lacked perimeter shooting. She scored 16 points against South Carolina in the Final Four game, despite the defeat.
Despite its success as a freshman, Lee faced certain difficulties. Similar to numerous exceptional high school players, she anticipated a seamless transfer and instant influence upon entering college. However, collegiate sports are a completely different matter. Lee had to adapt to a new role, taking a backseat and learning from the more seasoned players above her, after experiencing a scoring slump in the middle of the season.
According to Lee, it took me some time to learn to rely on others around me and accept that I would make mistakes. You have the mindset of (becoming) the best player in your hometown when you graduate from high school. In order to make sure you’re integrating well with the team, you have to sort of reorganize your function. I think it took me around six months to accept failure.
Lee persevered and concentrated on her development rather than giving up, and her patience finally paid off on the court.
She added, “I never got too down.” I simply continued to attempt to maintain my level of play, accepting that playing two minutes and going 0-for-7 was a necessary part of the process.
Lee has the same level of drive off the court. She is a pre-med student majoring in biology, which is difficult for any student, but particularly for a collegiate athlete who must continuously juggle practice, workouts, and games on top of coursework.
“Just balancing it was the hardest part of that,” Lee said. Finding the best time to study and do my work, as well as planning for how much we would be gone, particularly in late March and early April, were more important than the course load and the content.
While traveling with Team USA, Lee was able to balance two online classes. She managed it well, but this next semester will be much more difficult because she will be taking more difficult coursework and taking on a larger role on her team.
Lee laughed and continued, “I’ll check in with you again in the fall.” I’ll keep you updated on that.
