Kentucky junior center Marcus Lee is transferring out of the program after withdrawing his name from the NBA Draft. The Kansas basketball staff has already reached out to him.
With NBA draft entrants dropping out today – the final day to do so – Kentucky junior Marcus Lee withdrew his name from consideration. It was also announced by the school that Lee would be transferring out of the program in order to play his final year somewhere else.
Lee would have to sit out the next season, as he is not in line to graduate soon enough for the graduate transfer exemption. This would allow him to see the floor for his senior year in the 2017-2018 season.
The Kansas staff has already reached out to gauge interest in Lee, who averaged 6 points, 6 rebounds, and totaled 59 blocks on the season last year in Lexington. With Kansas set to lose starting center Landen Lucas to graduation this season, Marcus Lee would be the ideal replacement to potentially partner up with forward Carlton Bragg, should he return for his junior year. With only unproven forward Dwight Coleby, incoming Liberty transfer Evan Maxwell, and unproven freshman Udoka Azubuike and Mitch Lightfoot set to be on the roster in 2017, getting a veteran presence like Lee would be a great move by the Jayhawks staff. At this point, there’s no telling if or when the freshman will be ready to contribute in Lawrence, and relying on Coleby and Maxwell in the frontcourt would not inspire confidence.
Georgia Tech, Baylor, Kansas, Gonzaga, Iowa State are the schools to immediately reach out to Kentucky transfer Marcus Lee, per a source.
— Jeff Rabjohns (@JeffRabjohns) May 25, 2016
All that said, it’s unclear just how much interest Lee would have in coming to Kansas. He is from California, and the early expectation I’ve heard is that he will head back west. As a prep, Lee visited Kentucky and California officially, and prior to that visited Baylor, Louisville, UCLA, and Texas A&M unofficially.