Marcus Lee

Classroom

Marcus Lee arrived in Berkeley after attending Kentucky from June 2013 to May 2016, where he studied integrated strategic communication in the College of Communication and Information, focusing on classes related to public relations and direct response. While at UK, he was named a Dean’s List Scholar for 2013-14 and 2014-15 and was a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member. Lee transferred to UC Berkeley in June 2016 and is studying social welfare as a recipient of the Montgomery Family Academic Scholarship. During his time at Cal, Lee has completed coursework toward his Bachelor of Science degree in social welfare, as well as several foreign language courses. Lee is conversational in sign language and a beginner in Spanish and Swahili foreign language classes. Outside of the classroom, Lee is interested in the intersection of advertising and technology, as well as art.

Character

Lee is a member of UC Berkeley’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Cal’s Pac-12 SAAC representative, partnering with 23 Pac-12 student-athletes to change the views on equality empowerment. While at Kentucky, he represented the SEC at the 2016 NCAA Leadership Forum, partnering with national NCAA representatives to update student-athlete time demand legislation. He was treasurer of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee at Kentucky in 2015-16. While with Kentucky basketball, he was an ambassador for the Wildcats on a trip in the Bahamas, where he and his teammates washed the feet of young children and fitted them with new socks and shoes. Lee has served as both a coach and counselor at Cal and Kentucky’s youth basketball summer camps.

Community

Since his arrival in Berkeley last June, Lee quickly integrated himself with the Cal athletic department and is currently working with the department’s Fan Experience, Sponsorship, Sales & Service and Communications staff to produce a “PRIDE” night at a men’s basketball game this season in conjunction with UCLA Athletics. He is also passionate about pediatric cancer awareness and working with Cal Athletics staff to partner with a cancer organization to host a pediatric cancer awareness night this upcoming season.

Among attending Cal team community service events such as serving pancake breakfasts to seniors and attending the Children’s Hospital Oakland’s holiday party, he has also solely organized a team visit to the Laguna Honda Hospital to participate in the hospital’s 150th anniversary celebration and interact with patients. While at Kentucky, Lee was a two-time SEC Community Service Team member as a sophomore and junior and spearheaded God’s Pantry outreach in which members of the athletic department packed school lunches and then distributed the lunches to the needy children at the schools. He served as the liaison for Dance Blue, a dance marathon held on the Kentucky campus to raise money for pediatric cancer in 2015. He managed event production and logistics for the UK Blanket Drive, coordinating schedules, collecting donations and marketing to benefit 200 families affected by pediatric hospitalization in 2014. For his efforts, he aarned the All-NCAA Community Service and SEC Community Service awards and was named to the 2016 Allstate Good Works Team.

Competition

Lee is a co-captain for Cal Men’s Basketball this season, the first in which he is eligible to play following his transfer from Kentucky. While at Kentucky he saw time in 100 games, including every game of his sophomore and junior seasons. As a junior, he recorded career highs in points, rebounds, blocks and assists in his final season with the Wildcats. Lee shot a team-best 68 percent from the floor for the best single-season field goal percentage in school history, and led with a career-high 6.0 rebounds per game in 2015-16. As a freshman, he earned Midwest Region NCAA All-Tournament Team honors after pouring in 10 points with eight rebounds in UK’s Sweet 16 victory over Michigan. Lee aspires to one day compete in the Olympics in both basketball and volleyball.