Arizona Basketball: Recruit Ira Lee warms up to the Tucson sun
By Kevin Jiang
After recently visiting Arizona Basketball, Class of 2017 four-star power forward recruit Ira Lee, seems destined for either Arizona or Cal.
While some say Ira Lee is a little “undersized” for the power forward position, the tenacious rebounder from Prolific Prep (Napa, CA) has the athleticism and motor to find a comfortable home for himself on Lute Olson Court. The Arizona Wildcats were one of the first to offer Lee, and they have been aggressive in their recruitment, hosting Lee on a visit to Tucson this past Sunday.
In the hours leading up to his visit, it seemed as though Lee was warming up to the idea of becoming an Arizona Wildcat already using a new hashtag: #AZkid.
https://twitter.com/iramandoesit/status/745781092267896832
The San Pedro native was in attendance at Haas Pavilion for Cal’s intense one-point victory over Arizona in late January, watching a former Arizona-Cal target Ivan Rabb score 10 points over 37 minutes of play against the Cats.
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While Cuonzo Martin‘s revival of the Golden Bear program has involved a lot of young players seeing the floor, including 2015-16 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and recent Boston Celtic’s third overall draft pick, Jaylen Brown, Sean Miller has also been known to provide playing time for several freshmen in years past that would go on to be lottery picks.
Jason Scheer of Scout.com recently caught up with Lee following his Arizona visit. Lee noted that “Arizona has been recruiting me as long if not longer than anyone. The recruitment hasn’t really changed, and they tell me the same thing.” Lee mentioned several former Arizona combo forwards, including the likes of Stanley Johnson, Aaron Gordon, and Solomon Hill, as players who “were able to do some of everything” that serve as potential role models for the Class of 2017 recruit.
“Arizona has been recruiting me as long if not longer than anyone. The recruitment hasn’t really changed, and they tell me the same thing.” = Ira Lee
Like Johnson, Gordon, and Hill, Lee possesses a high motor that contributes to his defensive awareness, as well as his presence on the glass, which could help him see the court early on if he were to commit to Arizona.
Sean Miller has never been one against playing younger players who put in the work and effort necessary to grow, while performing at a high level in college basketball; however, Lee made sure to ease up on the positive signs pointing towards Arizona with a parting statement that, “The same list of schools hasn’t changed. I like Arizona, and I like California.”
“The same list of schools hasn’t changed. I like Arizona, and I like California.” – Ira Lee
While Lee still intends on keeping his cards close to his chest, it definitely seems as though the San Pedro native has essentially narrowed down his choices to Arizona and Cal, staying true to the programs that had recruited him early on in the process.
The current Crystal Ball prediction from 247Sports has Arizona in favor at an 89% chance while Cal holds the remaining 11%. Scout.com labels his interest in UConn, USC and Oregon offers as ‘Medium‘, it doesn’t seem likely that Lee will venture out to the East coast to join Kevin Ollie at UConn.
https://twitter.com/iramandoesit/status/746162431911596032
While we all await Lee’s decision, check out his highlights from earlier this month at the Pangos AA Camp.
Even though Lee has already drawn the interest from Arizona and Cal in another Ivan-Rabb-esque recruiting battle, Lee has a big summer ahead of him which will help him continue to grow as one of the better power forwards in the class of 2017. BearDown, Lee, we hope to see you as a Cat!