Shalee Lehning

Classroom

Lehning is an electronic journalism major carrying a 3.69 GPA at Kansas State. She is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 first team selection (2006-07 and 2007-08) and garnered CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VII third team honors in 2008, her first career regional citation. She has also been named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll six times, reaching the honor roll in the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008 with a 4.0 GPA.  Lehning also received CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America third team honors for the 2008-09 season.

Character

Lehning, a native of Sublette, Kan., has been one of K-State’s team captains since her sophomore season and has been one of the team leaders since the day she stepped foot on campus. Her commitment to all facets of the game of basketball is unrivaled in K-State history, as she dedicates herself during practices and individual workouts to get better in some area of her game each time she is in the gym. With this strong, small-town work ethic, she has endeared herself to K-State fans across the state and has become one of the most recognizable women’s basketball players and Wildcat student-athletes in the state of Kansas. She is a role model to young girls throughout the state for her play on the court and her generosity and hard work off it.

Community

Lehning has been an active member of the Manhattan and K-State communities during her time with the Wildcats. Following the 2008 women’s basketball season, she took part in K-State’s Relay for Life walk to benefit the American Cancer Society and the Flint Hills Community Clinic benefit basketball game to raise money for the local free clinic. She also volunteers her time for the Special Olympics All-Sports Clinic, a number of basketball camps throughout the state of Kansas and the Read to Achieve program at Manhattan’s Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School. She also assists K-State Student-Athlete Advisory Council with two events every year, Cats for Cans and Angel Tree. The Cats for Cans event involves team members from each K-State athletic team collecting canned food items for the Flint Hills Food Basket before a selected football game. The Angel Tree event occurs during the holiday season when each team selects a local family to assist during the holidays by donating gifts and money to aid in this endeavor. Lehning also participates in a number of Fellowship of Christian Athletes events throughout the year.

Competition

Lehning garnered All-Big 12 first team honors in 2008, as she led the Wildcats to the second Big 12 title in school history and the 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in the program’s history and first since the 2005 season. She was recognized as a WBCA Region V finalist, Kansas City Star Big 12 Co-Player of the Year, Kansas City Star All-Big 12 first team and Waco Tribune All-Big 12 second team. She led the Big 12 in assists per game with 6.3 per contest and ranked 11th in the nation. Lehning also ranked among the Big 12 statistical leaders in scoring (11.3; 23rd), free throw percentage (.715; 8th), rebounds (7.6; 9th), defensive rebounds (5.84; 2nd), assist/turnover ratio (1.66; 4th), steals (2.25; t3rd), double-doubles (8; t4th) and minutes played (33.47; 6th). She broke the school record for assists in a season with 203 and became the first player in school history to surpass the 200-assist plateau. Among the national assist leaders, Lehning ranked first in rebounds per game and was ranked sixth in points per game. She helped seal K-State’s Big 12 regular season title with 29 points and 17 rebounds at Kansas on March 5, 2008 and garnered Big 12 Player of the Week honors with the performance. During the 2007-08 season, she tallied three contests of 20 or more points, 10 games of 10 or more rebounds and four games of 10 or more assists. Lehning has firmly established herself among the school’s record books, as she ranks second in school history and ninth in Big 12 history for career assists with 571. She also ranks seventh in career steals with 187 and despite playing the point guard position at a height of 5-8, she ranks ninth in school history in career rebounds with 703. She is the second player in school history, and just the sixth in Big 12 history, to record 700 rebounds and 500 assists for her career. She also is poised to become the 34th player in school history to surpass the 1,000-point barrier, as she has tallied 868 points. She has filled stat sheets her entire career, as she ranks tied for seventh in school history for career double-doubles with 13 and is tied for third place in the NCAA record books with five triple-doubles for her career, a new Big 12 record. Following the 2006-07 season, Lehning was named an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection. After her debut campaign in 2005-06, she was named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer team and helped K-State win its first postseason title, as the Wildcats won the 2006 Postseason WNIT.  For her senior season, Lehning was recently named a Midseason Wooden Award Candidate and her name is present on the State Farm Wade Trophy watch list as one of the best players in the country.  She was also added to the 2008-09 Naismith Trophy midseason candidate list in an announcement by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.