BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- William Lee didn't have to do all that last week.
We already knew he was very good. We just couldn't wait to find out at the Final 48 if he might also be "Mr. Basketball."
He was already known in basketball circles as the biggest recruiting coup for UAB basketball since Jerod Haase was lured away from playing "Goose" to Roy Williams at Kansas and North Carolina.
Dallas County's William Lee leaves the floor a state champion at the Johnson vs. Dallas County boys AHSAA 4A State Championship game, Saturday, March 01, 2014, at the BJCC in Birmingham, Ala. Dallas County won an overtime thriller 51-48. (Vasha Hunt / vhunt@al.com)
Haase has landed a "Maverick" for UAB in the Dallas County big man.
Lee, known as "HaHa" around the state, looks every bit like a recruit who got away that Alabama and Auburn fans won't be laughing about in two years.
Many veteran coaches shared the opinion that the 6-foot-9 Lee would be a hoss at either end of a press for UAB next season at small forward. That was before he even played in Birmingham at the Final 48.
The skinny was that the big man was a defensive dynamo. Tales of Lee blocking a dozen shots per game had been coming out of Plantersville for a couple of years now.
That proved pretty hard to swallow, but a few calls were made. If Lee wasn't blocking 12 or 13 shots per game, he was swatting at least seven or eight per game.
But he wasn't a Mutombo on the offensive end. Dallas County reported to the AHSAA that Lee shot 56 percent from the field for 21.6 points per game this season.
He scored that many points at that height despite just 4.3 free throw attempts per game.
Dallas County's William Lee nails the championship with three free-throws at the Johnson vs. Dallas County boys AHSAA 4A State Championship game, Saturday, March 01, 2014, at the BJCC in Birmingham, Ala. Dallas County won an overtime thriller 51-48. (Vasha Hunt / vhunt@al.com)
His rebounding average was 11.6 per contest and he blocked 293 shots in 29 games.
That's 10 blocks a night. His average night was a triple double. Lee even had 20 points, nine rebounds and six blocks against 6A champion Mountain Brook. He added four steals and three assists on 7 of 12 shooting that night.
Lee was already on the short list for the Alabama Sports Writers Association's coveted "Mr. Basketball" honor. But what he did in the postseason shortened that list considerably.
Did anyone have the year Lee did for 4A state champion Dallas County? Did anyone have the postseason? Did anyone anywhere near his talent level lead a team to the season he did?
That answer, if we're being honest, is no.
Lee had me before the state championship game where he basically walked on water for the fourth quarter and overtime period.
That came after his team's ball-handlers had racked up the fouls and had to watch from the bench.
Just look at what he did in the three games leading up to the state final.
"HaHa" delivered 15 points and 10 rebounds in a battle with a Bibb County team led by 6-foot-6 Danjel Purifoy. That junior has Kentucky and Michigan State offers. Lee delivered with three blocks and just one personal foul and one turnover. He shot 7 of 9 from the line.
Lee then had 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocks against Dora in the Central final. It was a cruise game, but he went 5 of 7 from the stripe with just one foul and two turnovers.
The 4A Final 48 MVP then delivered in overtime games against Madison County and a J.O. Johnson team that had his boys down by 13 in the third quarter.
He has 20 points through three quarters in the semifinals. The senior finished with a quiet 25 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks, if that's possible.
Dallas County's William Lee is shown during the AHSAA Class 4A state championship game at the BJCC in Birmingham, Ala., Saturday, March 1, 2014. (Mark Almond / malmond@al.com)
He was 9 of 11 at the line. See a pattern there?
Lee had only shot 60 percent at the line in the season, but elevated his game in the postseason when points were at a premium.
Who needed to see more? But then Lee went and had 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks against J.O. Johnson.
He scored the last five points of regulation. That included a three-pointer to beat the buzzer and force overtime. Lee then scored the last five points of overtime, including three free throws that provided the final margin in a 51-48 victory.
That's a "Mr. Basketball" resume there.
It mattered because he did all that on the big stage with the state's media and basketball die-hards gathered to see.
The state has other contenders. Wenonah's Justin Coleman finished off a splendid career with 28 points per game. He beat eventual Class 5A champion Parker on two late game shots in the final 10 seconds, but the Alabama signee didn't make the Final 48.
Neither did Madison Academy super sophomore Joshua Langford. He missed the last month of the season with a broken bone in his wrist.
Dallas County's Jaydon Buford (left) and Keyonis Phillips hug William Lee after Lee hit the game-winning free throws in the 51-48 victory over J.O. Johnson in the AHSAA Class 4A state championship game at the BJCC in Birmingham, Ala., Saturday, March 1, 2014. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)
Purifoy didn't make it either. Neither did Athens standout Giddy Potts or Albertville's Riley Norris.
What does that mean? Its hard for an All-State standout to claim the Mr. Basketball trophy if he doesn't at least reach Birmingham.
The last time that happened was in 2010. Yet Trevor Lacey's case was helped by the fact his junior year was cut short by a knee injury. He led Butler to a 5A title the previous season against an Eric Bledsoe-led Parker team.
The last time before that was Grissom's Chris White in 2001. Childerburg's Gerald Wallace in 2000 was the last Mr. Basketball dating back to 1995 who won that award despite not seeing his team reach the Final 48.
Lee doesn't need a campaign manager stumping for him to get the honor. It will not be awarded until April 16th in Montgomery. Lee was the best player in Alabama this year. It doesn't take a lot of paragraphs or stats to explain why, but his entire body of work deserves the recognition.
How many times do we see a 6-foot-9 small forward blocking a half-dozen shots in big games with excellent timing and then go drain clutch 3s and also handle the ball and big free throws during pressure games?
"He's got a big big upside," said J.O. Johnson coach Jack Doss, who's won seven state titles. "I don't know why a player like that doesn't end up at an Alabama or Auburn. He could really help those two programs. He's got tremendous upside and sure showed some real savvy against us."
UAB fans should foam at the mouth about getting Lee into a daily nutrition and weight program. He was listed at 195 pounds this year. He can get to 225 pounds in a college program about as quickly as he can get to the rim.
If he does that, Lee has all the tools to be the program's biggest recruit since Gene Bartow was lured away from Pauley Pavillion.
Lee, if his progresses, can be a Top 15 pick in in two or three years. UAB basketball has never had that.
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