Lee Hyun-jung (born October 23, 2000) is a South Korean professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Illawarra Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) is an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Davidson Wildcats The Davidson Wildcats are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams representing Davidson College of Davidson, North Carolina, United States. A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), Davidson College sponsors teams in ten men's ...

of the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

(A-10).

Early life and career

Lee attended Samil Commercial School in

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

, where he played basketball under the coaching of his father. In middle school, Lee was only 170 centimeters and played as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

, as he practiced dribbling and mid-range shooting. By the end of his middle school years, Lee grew to over 190 centimeters. He played as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

during defense and a guard during the offense. He modeled his game after

Klay Thompson Klay Alexander Thompson (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A four-time NBA champion with the Warriors, he is a five-time NBA All-Star ...

. In 2018, Lee enrolled at the NBA Global Academy in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Australia. While at the academy, he played for the BA Centre of Excellence in the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was an Australian semi-professional basketball league. The league comprised both a men's and women's competition and was run by the country's governing body, Basketball Australia. The league wa ...

(SEABL) in 2018 and then the

NBL1 NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia, consisting of NBL1 South, South, NBL1 North, North, NBL1 Central, Central, NBL1 West, West and NBL1 East, East Conferences with both men's and women's compet ...

in 2019. In conjunction with the NBA Global Academy and the Centre of Excellence, he attended Lake Ginninderra Secondary College, where he learned to speak

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Lee committed to playing college basketball for

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

over an offer from

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. He drew the attention of head coach

Bob McKillop Robert McKillop (born July 13, 1950) is an American college basketball coach who is the former head coach of the Davidson Wildcats men's team of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Early basketball career Born in Queens, New York, McKillop grew up in Qu ...

and his staff at a

Basketball Without Borders Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport ...

event. He would become the fourth player and the second men's player from South Korea to play

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

basketball.

College career

As a freshman with the

in 2019–20, Lee appeared in 28 games off the bench and finished seventh among A-10 first-year players in scoring, averaging 8.4 points per game. On February 7, 2020, he scored a season-high 20 points in a 73–62 loss to VCU. He was subsequently named to the

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

All-Rookie Team. As a sophomore in 2020–21, Lee started all 22 games and finished second on the team in scoring and assists. He became the first-ever Wildcat to conclude the season shooting at least 50 percent overall, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free throw line. He twice scored a season-high 23 points. He averaged 13.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. As a junior in 2021–22, Lee played in 34 games and made 33 starts, averaging 15.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. On December 1, 2021, he recorded a career-high 32 points and 14 rebounds against

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. He was subsequently named first-team All-Atlantic 10. On April 26, 2022, Lee declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.

Professional career

Santa Cruz Warriors (2023)

After suffering a foot injury, Lee went undrafted in the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

. On February 20, 2023, Lee was acquired by the

Santa Cruz Warriors The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior to ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. In 12 games to complete the 2022–23 season, he averaged 5.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Lee played for the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

in the

2023 NBA Summer League The 2023 NBA Summer League (branded as '' NBA 2K24'' Summer League 2023 for sponsorship reasons) was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, ...

Illawarra Hawks (2023–present)

On July 11, 2023, Lee signed a three-year deal with the

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).

National team career

Lee played for South Korea's junior national team at the

2015 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship The 2015 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship. The tournament was supposed to be held in Bangalore, India from July 2 to 12, but according to FIBA's official tour ...

. He averaged 14 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, leading his team to its first gold medal at the tournament. Lee represented South Korea at the

2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship The 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship (Spanish: 2016 FIBA Campeonato Mundial Sub-17) was the 4th edition of the FIBA Under-17 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the U17 national team ...

and

2018 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship The 2018 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship was the 25th edition of the Asian Championship for Junior Men aged 18 years old and below. The tournament was held in Nonthaburi, Thailand from August 5 to 11. held off , 72−63, to win their first-e ...

. He averaged 26 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 6 assists per game at the 2018 tournament. He played for the senior team at the

2020 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments The 2020 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments were the four basketball tournaments that were contested by 23 national teams, where the top teams earned a place in the 2020 Summer Olympics basketball tournament. They were originally scheduled ...

and during the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

Personal life

Lee's mother,

Sung Jung-a Sung Jung-A (born 25 December 1965 in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do) is a South Korean former basketball player who won the silver medal in the women's basketball tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Sung was also a member of ...

, won a silver medal while representing South Korea in basketball at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. His father, Lee Yoon-hwan, played semi-professionally before becoming a high school athletic director and coach. His older sister, Lee Ri-na, played for the South Korean under-16 national team.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 0 , , 20.9 , , .467 , , .377 , , .857 , , 3.1 , , .8 , , .6 , , .1 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 22 , , 29.9 , , .508 , , .442 , , .900 , , 4.0 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .4 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 33 , , 32.1 , , .474 , , .381 , , .777 , , 6.0 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .3 , , 15.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 84 , , 55 , , 27.8 , , .481 , , .397 , , .823 , , 4.5 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .2 , , 12.7

NBA G League

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;", Santa Cruz , 12 , , 0 , , 17.6 , , .319 , , .292 , , .600 , , 4.2 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , .3 , , 5.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"
Career
, 12 , , 0 , , 17.6 , , .319 , , .292 , , .600 , , 4.2 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , .3 , , 5.5

References

External links

*
Davidson Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Hyun-jung 2000 births Living people Davidson Wildcats men's basketball players Expatriate basketball people in Australia Illawarra Hawks players Sportspeople from Seongnam Santa Cruz Warriors players Shooting guards Small forwards South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Australia South Korean expatriate basketball people in the United States South Korean men's basketball players