Photo via lrscroyals.com
Derrick Lee Jr. had never heard of Devils Lake when Jared Marshall reached out to him through the transfer portal.
Lee was quickly sold on Marshall’s vision for him.
“I liked how welcoming he was to me,” Lee said. “And he was pretty much transparent with me. I needed to be that dude and work hard and give energy every day.”
As Clarence Daniels and Bronson Chambers did in recent years, Lee transferred to Lake Region State College from an NCAA school. His basketball journey started in Michigan, moved to IMG Academy in Florida, then advanced to the D-I level — and now his next stop is LRSC in Devils Lake, N.D.
“Ever since Coach took me in, I felt at home, to be honest,” Lee said. “And I’m just ready to work.”
Lee hails from the Detroit suburb of Novi, Mich. He started playing basketball in second grade. He also played football and ran track growing up. His father, Derrick Lee Sr., was a wide receiver for the Michigan State University football team.
Lee played basketball for Bloomfield Hills High School, then transferred to Detroit Central Catholic for his senior year.
Despite his coach’s best efforts to get his name out there, he didn’t receive any scholarship offers.
“I kind of got overlooked,” Lee said. “So that’s pretty much been my whole high school career, I’ve been overlooked.”
His best option out of high school was not a college, but a post-grad program at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
He moved to the other side of the country to pursue his dreams.
“My parents sacrificed a lot for me to go to IMG,” Lee said. “And I thank them for that.”
IMG Academy is a sports-centered boarding school known for its emphasis on training high-quality athletes. Lee entered a whole different world when he went there.
“Man, it was amazing, to be honest. Everything was just so structured, like a college system,” he said. “Practices were very intense. Always intense. And we had, like, meetings and film. It was pretty much like college. And we had our own dorms. And the weather, you know, it’s always the best. But I felt like I learned a lot there.”
In Lee’s lone season at IMG, the team went 33-7. Lee averaged 12.3 points per game. He shot 52% from the floor and 42% from beyond the arc.
It led to him getting multiple collegiate offers. The highlight was Kent State University, a Division I team in Ohio that made March Madness in 2023. He was a preferred walk-on there.
“The head coach, he brung me in, and I pretty much just worked my tail off every day,” Lee said. “There’s been days where I get picked on and stuff, but I didn’t let that affect me in practice.”
Still, as a freshman in a high-caliber basketball program, playing time was an uphill battle for Lee. He never saw the court in Kent State’s 36 games and ended up redshirting. The Golden Flashes went 24-12, including an 81-54 road loss to No. 6 Alabama, a team led by Devils Lake native Grant Nelson.
Kent State beat St. Bonaventure and Stanford in the National Invitation Tournament before getting eliminated by Loyola Chicago.
Despite not cracking the floor, Lee said he gained some value from being part of a D-I program.
“My teammates, actually, I loved them, man. I feel like they helped me to be a better player overall,” Lee said. “I felt like I learned the strengths and weaknesses of being at D-I, especially the speed of the game and the in and outs. I feel like I’ve definitely been humbled there, too. Because there were very good guards there, too. … Overall, I’m just thankful I went there.”
At the end of the season, Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff was honest with Lee. He told him, Lee recalled, that there was a limit to how many players they could keep, and that Lee probably wouldn’t be in that group.
“He pretty much said, ‘I’m not sure if you’re gonna be on the team or not,’” Lee said. “‘But I think you should go in the portal.’”
When Lee began looking for his next school, he figured he’d be going the JUCO route.
“I was just looking for a home, and a place where I can just work hard and do anything I can to help the team win,” Lee said.
As head coach of the Royals, Marshall has access to a master database with all the kids in the transfer portal. In recent years, he’s put an emphasis on staying active in it. It’s paid off a few times now — most recently with Lee.
LRSC was the only school that offered Lee a full-ride scholarship. Before making the decision to commit, Lee had a talk with his parents. He recalled his mom telling him, “This is pretty much your only opportunity to play basketball.”
And so Lee responded, “Yeah, I’m gonna just go.”
“They trust me,” Lee said about his parents, “and I trust myself to go there and do what I need to do.”
When Lee first joined the team, he recalled, returning sophomore Alvin Payne was the first one to greet him.
“And I felt welcome, like a brotherhood,” Lee said. “And Remy [Davis Warrington], he’s a great point guard, man. I love him. Has a great personality.”
The homey atmosphere instantly put Lee at ease. It extended through his teammates, to Coach Marshall, and to assistant coaches Channing Reed and Winder Joseph.
As for his new home, small-town North Dakota is uncharted territory. But he’s making the best of it.
“There’s really nothing here, to be honest. I’m just here to ball, man,” Lee said. “Every now and then I might chill with my teammates to go to Walmart, to go get some groceries or something.”
Marshall praised the value Lee brings to the squad. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out where he fits in on the floor.
“He brings college experience at a high level. … He’s a little older. Little more mature,” Marshall said. “Great kid, great attitude. Bigger guard that can really get to the hoop and bully. A solid shooter as well. He can kind of do a little bit of everything. And he’s still trying to fit his role, and one of the guys we’re looking to gel more with the other guys.”
Lee now has an opportunity. Playing time still won’t be a total given: The Royals have a crowded roster of 16 players. LRSC provides a lower-stakes yet competitive environment for Lee to take the next step.
Despite two post-high school stops already, this will technically be Lee’s first year getting minutes at the college level.
“I look to go to a four-year after this summer, like low-major, D-I or D-II,” Lee said. “And win conference, man. I want to win conference very bad. And I just want to prove to myself that I can play at a higher level.”
