Arizona Basketball

Arizona Wildcats recruiting profile: Ira Lee

By Anthony Gimino

Posted on November 17, 2016

Ira Lee (photo via YouTube screenshot)

Looking for a “Sean Miller” kind of a player?

Ire Lee could be it.

He’s a 6-foot-8 power forward from Crossroads School in Los Angeles, known for his energy. He’s tough. Knows his role. A bulldog.

“We identified Ira a long, long time ago and offered him a scholarship early on in his high school career,” Miller said.

“He’s a guy with an incredibly high motor. He plays the game with tremendous energy. He is involved in so many plays on offense and defense. I think from a defensive perspective, he has a chance to be great.”

Miller said Lee has a chance to join the same class as defenders as guys like Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson were from the forward position.

“Ira has the kind of athleticism, size, quickness, mostly a mindset and toughness, that we really love,” Miller said.

Lee could end up playing both forward positions at Arizona, giving Miller options to use Lee in big and small lineups. He has been dealing with a shoulder injury that will affect his senior year of high school, but Miller said, “we don’t look at that as being a hindrance to him at all in college.”

Lee’s father, Zeph Lee, played football at USC and in the NFL from 1987 to 1989 as a defensive back.

“He raised his son to work extremely hard,” Miller said.

MORE: Arizona signs four ‘love-the-game’ players in strong class

Arizona’s recruiting class

National rankings from 247Sports, Rivals.com, Scout.com, ESPN and the 247Sports Composite, which weights the rankings from several major recruiting services.

Click on the other recruits’ names for their recruiting profile:

Signee	247	Rivals	Scout	ESPN	247C
DeAndre Ayton	2	1	1	1	1
Brandon Randolph	37	52	38	40	38
Ira Lee	32	59	80	69	58
Alex Barcello	102	103	86	94	80

Straight from Miller

Sean Miller on signee Ira Lee… pic.twitter.com/IZDFZJxylE

— Anthony Gimino (@AGWildcatReport) November 17, 2016

‘Our’ scout says …

Friend of the site Matt Moreno, who runs goazcats.com on the Rivals network, said this about Ayton:

“All about energy. I was talking to someone about Ira Lee, and he said for some of the skills that he lacks he kind of bridges that gap by being the hardest-working player on the floor and going as hard as he can. He fits right in with what Sean Miller wants. He can play a couple different spots, maybe play that 3 a little bit. He’s kind of talked about himself as being in the mold of an Aaron Gordon, where they use him at the 4 and the 3. A big-time rebounder. He’s gotten better in transition. Can handle the ball a little bit, too.”