« Men’s Basketball 2018-19

Lance Tejada

School
Lehigh University
Position
Guard
Major
Sociology

Classroom

Lance Tejada is a sociology major at a prestigious institution, as Lehigh is currently tied for 46th nationally in the U.S. News and World Report list of top national universities. Tejada has garnered academic recognition in his career, including the Faculty Athletics Council Award for a semester GPA above 3.2.

Character

Tejada is looked up to by his teammates due to many attributes, including his work ethic. As an East Carolina transfer, he has made a seamless transition to the Lehigh’s men’s basketball team, quickly integrating himself among his teammates and becoming an All-Patriot League performer. Tejada has taken part in the Lehigh Athletics Leadership Academy (now called Flight 45), which helps sophomore and junior student-athletes learn how to lead by example, develop relationships with teammates and gain the credibility to lead their teams vocally while actively supporting the efforts of current team captains.

Community

Tejada and the Lehigh’s men’s basketball team have always had a strong presence in the local community. Most recently, this October Tejada and his teammates spent a Sunday morning cleaning the south side of Bethlehem. The following day, the Mountain Hawks visited Northeast Middle School in Bethlehem as part of the NABC Stay in to Win program, encouraging the youngsters to stay in school and graduate.

In the past, Tejada and the Mountain Hawks have traveled to the local Donegan Elementary School for the Reading Rocks program. A different Lehigh Athletics team each week spent approximately one hour with the students, helping them read before playing games and other activities with the youngsters. In addition, Lehigh’s men’s basketball, along with every Lehigh Athletics team, also takes part in Adopt-A-Family, though which the Mountain Hawks provide a holiday for a local underprivileged family. The process included shopping for gifts, wrapping and delivering them to the families in early December. In total—including Lehigh fraternities, sororities and other departments—the event itself has raised roughly $30,000.

Competition

Tejada made an immediate impact from day one at Lehigh. He could only practice during the 2015-16 season due to transfer rules, but he helped make his teammates better in practice as the Mountain Hawks advanced to their second straight Patriot League Championship game. Then, in his first season playing in games for Lehigh (2017-18), Tejada led the team in scoring with 14.7 points per game, which was also good for ninth in the Patriot League. Tejada finished 10th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (45.3) and 54th in three-point field goals per game (2.85). He was named a second-team All-Patriot League honoree following the season and a preseason All-League selection before this, his senior campaign.

Among Tejada’s standout games were his performance at Virginia when he scored a game-high 22 points against the nation’s No. 1 defense. Tejada shot 8-of-14 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from three-point range. His 22 points were the most against the UVA defense since Jayson Tatum of Duke (currently of the Boston Celtics) the previous February. Tejada’s 22 points ended up being tied for the sixth most points scored by any player against UVA last season.

With his 269 points over his first two seasons at East Carolina, Tejada entered this season with 665 and could eclipse 1,000 for his career.

*All stats as of nomination time.