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Ayoka Lee

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Ayoka Lee
Lee (right) with Kansas State in 2021
No. 50 – Kansas State Wildcats
PositionCenter
LeagueBig 12 Conference
Personal information
Born (2000-08-12) August 12, 2000 (age 24)
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Career information
High schoolByron (Byron, Minnesota)
CollegeKansas State (2019–present)
Career highlights and awards
  • Second-team All-American – AP, USBWA (2022)
  • 4× First-team All-Big 12 (2020–2022, 2024)
  • Big 12 Freshman of the Year (2020)
  • 2× Big 12 All-Defensive Team (2022, 2024)
  • Big 12 All-Freshman Team (2020)

Ayoka Lee (born August 12, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference. She holds the NCAA Division I women's single-game scoring record with 61 points.

High school career

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Lee played basketball for Byron High School in Byron, Minnesota.[1] In her sophomore season, she averaged 24.6 points, 13.8 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game and was named to the Class 3A All-State team. As a junior, Lee averaged 24.9 points, 16.4 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game, repeating as a Class 3A All-State selection.[2] In her senior season, she averaged 26.6 points, 15.7 rebounds and 5.5 blocks per game.[3] She scored a school-record 54 points against Cotter High School during the Section 1AA tournament.[4] Lee tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the state tournament.[1] She earned Class 2A All-State honors and was a finalist for the Minnesota Miss Basketball award.[5] Lee set career and single-season program records for points, rebounds and field goal percentage.[6] In high school, she also competed in volleyball for three years and track and field for two years at the varsity level.[3] A three-star recruit, she committed to playing college basketball for Kansas State.[7]

College career

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Lee redshirted her first season at Kansas State to rehabilitate from her torn ACL and was a part of the practice squad.[5][8] On January 25, 2020, she recorded 23 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a 92–74 win against Oklahoma, the first 20-point, 20-rebound game in program history.[9] On February 16, she matched her season-high of 24 points while recording 13 rebounds, four blocks and three steals in an 87–85 win against Oklahoma.[10] As a freshman, Lee averaged 15.7 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game, earning first-team All-Big 12 and Freshman of the Year recognition.[11] She set the conference record by winning the Big 12 Freshman of the Week award 12 times.[12] On January 31, 2021, Lee posted a sophomore season-high 37 points and 18 rebounds in an 80–70 loss to Oklahoma, scoring the most points by a Kansas State player during a Big 12 game.[13] She averaged 19.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and two blocks per game as a sophomore and was named first-team All-Big 12 for a second time.[14]

In her junior season debut on November 9, 2021, Lee broke the program single-game scoring record with 43 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three steals in a 103–40 victory over Central Arkansas.[15] On December 11, Lee posted 38 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks in a 79–73 win against South Dakota State.[16] On January 11, 2021, she had 38 points and 11 rebounds in a 73–70 loss to Iowa State.[17] On January 23, Lee set the NCAA Division I women's single-game scoring record with 61 points in a 94–65 win over Oklahoma. During the game, she also had 12 rebounds and three blocks.[18] As a junior, Lee averaged 22 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. She earned her third consecutive first-team All-Big 12 selection and was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press and the United States Basketball Writers Association.[19] Lee opted to return to Kansas State instead of entering the 2022 WNBA draft but was sidelined for the season after undergoing knee surgery.[20][21]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2019–20 Kansas State 29 29 32.0 56.8 0.0 70.4 11.4 0.4 0.8 3.1 1.6 15.7
2020–21 Kansas State 25 25 28.0 62.1 0.0 81.2 8.7 0.7 0.7 2.0 1.4 19.1
2021–22 Kansas State 33 33 31.1 56.3 0.0 7.71 10.3 0.7 1.2 2.9 1.5 22.0
2022–23 Kansas State Did not play due to injury
2023–24 Kansas State 27 27 27.2 61.9 1.000 70.3 8.6 0.8 1.0 2.8 1.3 19.7
Career 114 114 29.7 58.9 1.000 75.0 9.8 0.7 0.9 2.7 1.5 19.2
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[22]

Personal life

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Lee's younger brother, Ahjany, plays college basketball for St. Thomas (Minnesota), and her older brother, Ahymad, played at Byron High School.[1] She graduated from Kansas State University with a bachelor's degree in psychology and is pursuing a master's degree in couples and family therapy. Lee was named a second-team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as a sophomore. She earned first-team Academic All-American and Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in her junior year.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Souhan, Jim (January 25, 2022). "Lee was the pride of Byron before breaking NCAA scoring mark". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  2. ^ "K-State WBB Signs Four to NLIs for 2018-19 Season". Kansas State University Athletics. November 8, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Edwards, Kiya; Molmud, Jack (January 24, 2022). "Minnesota native crushes NCAA Women's Basketball D1 single-game scoring record". KARE. Associated Press. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Watts, Adam (February 27, 2018). "Girls basketball: Cotter has no answer for Byron's Ayoka Lee in Section 1AA quarterfinal loss". Winona Daily News. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "K-State's Lee to Redshirt for Remainder of 2018-19 Season". Kansas State University Athletics. December 6, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  6. ^ "Ayoka Lee – Women's Basketball". Kansas State University Athletics. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  7. ^ Yasharoff, Hannah (January 1, 2017). "3-star center Ayoka Lee commits to Kansas State". The Left Bench. Archived from the original on January 6, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  8. ^ D'Arcangelo, Lyndsey (January 25, 2022). "As her basketball star grows, Ayoka Lee embraces the moment". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  9. ^ "Lee Earns Second USBWA National Freshman of the Week Honor". Kansas State University Athletics. January 28, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  10. ^ "K-State Sweeps Women's Basketball Weekly Awards". Big 12 Conference. February 17, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  11. ^ Ruff, Pat (March 19, 2020). "Byron grad Lee had a freshman season for the ages at Kansas State". Post-Bulletin. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  12. ^ Gates, Riley (March 9, 2020). "Lee earns Big 12 Freshman of the Year honor". GoPowercat. 247Sports. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  13. ^ "K-State Comeback Ends in Final Second". Kansas State University Athletics. January 31, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  14. ^ Everson, Tim (October 19, 2021). "K-State's Ayoka Lee stays a step ahead of Big 12 women's basketball coaches". The Manhattan Mercury. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  15. ^ Campbell, Marleah (November 10, 2021). "Ayoka Lee sets K-State single-game scoring record". WIBW-TV. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  16. ^ Campbell, Marleah (December 11, 2021). "Lee scores 38 in K-State road win over South Dakota State". WIBW-TV. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  17. ^ "No. 9 Iowa State women's basketball team rallies to beat 25th-ranked Kansas State". The Des Moines Register. Associated Press. January 12, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  18. ^ Putnik, Gary (January 23, 2022). "Ayoka Lee sets NCAA DI women's basketball single-game record with 61 points". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  19. ^ "Lee Named USBWA All-American". Kansas State University Athletics. March 17, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  20. ^ Voepel, Mechelle (January 25, 2022). "Ayoka Lee says she'll return to Kansas State Wildcats women's basketball team for senior season". ESPN. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  21. ^ "Kansas State's Ayoka Lee to have knee surgery, miss women's college basketball season". ESPN. August 25, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  22. ^ "Ayoka Lee College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  23. ^ "Lee Named Big 12 WBB Scholar-Athlete of the Year". Kansas State University Athletics. April 12, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
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