It was a big weekend – and it’s been a big season – for Semiahmoo grad and basketball player Déja Lee.
The 20-year-old, now in her third year studying biology at the University of California, Irvine, was named MVP after helping her team win the Big West Championship 53-39 over the University of California, David Aggies on Saturday (March 16).
The win was the Anteaters’ first Big West Championship title since 1995, and also earned them a spot in the NCAA Women’s Championships, which start this weekend in Portland, Oregon.
Lee was also named Big West Player of the Year, and set a new single-season school record with 75 steals, also on Saturday.
“She’s always been an outstanding defensive player, so the steals record is not a surprise to me,” said Lee’s former coach and hoops legend Allison McNeill, the former longtime bench boss of the Canadian women’s team and a member of the Simon Fraser University and B.C. Sports halls of fame as well as Basketball BC’s Hall of Fame.
“She’s super competitive… she’s a hard worker all the way around.”
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Lee, a guard who represented B.C. and Canada and was part of the Semiahmoo senior girls basketball team that won back-to-back provincial championships, practices with her team and weight trains every day, in addition to her studies.
“It feels really good. I think I’ve come a long way… two years ago if you had told me I’d receive these accolades, I’d probably be laughing,” she said in a phone interview.
“It’s really nice to see all the hard work I’ve put in coming to fruition.”
She gave credit to her teammates for all of their hard worked this season.
“When my coach said I got player of year, all my teammates just dog-piled me – it was the best feeling ever. They are just as proud as I am… we all work so hard.”
All the emotions for the title 🙌#TogetherWeZot | #RipEm pic.twitter.com/2xdIkBp7oD
— UCI Women's Basketball (@UCIwbb) March 17, 2024
McNeill noted it’s only the second time in 25 year that the Anteaters have qualified for the NCAA championships, and praised how Lee has grown as a player, noting that she’s always been a team player with a great, all-around game.
“She’s always giving the ball to someone else… she’s a great decision-maker and she’s a great teammate. I notice that now she’s starting to take those skills that she has and (is being more) assertive about leading and scoring and being more of a go-to player – I think that’s the evolution I’ve seen in her game McNeill said, adding that since she has known and coached Lee since elementary school, she has also noticed how much physically stronger Lee is now.
“All her skills are so much better. She works so hard, and she’s really asserting herself as a scorer and as a leader.”
Lee, who has settled into the Irvine life – “you get the best of both worlds with the beach on one side and L.A. on the other” – still has some habits and rituals before each game – although she may be styling her hair differently from now on.
“One thing I always do is tie my ponytail really tight. This season, I just started putting a braid in my hair… now it has to be a thing for the rest of my career,” she said with a laugh.
“I’m Christian, so usually on the bus I listen to worship music… it puts me in a good mood. After that I have to tie my shoes a certain way, then once they’re really tight I’m good to go.”
While she usually comes back to the Semiahmoo Peninsula for holidays, she’ll be busy this summer doing research in a neuroscience laboratory, but notes she couldn’t do it without her family.
“My parents are so supportive. It was tough initially, when they couldn’t come to every game, but just knowing I can call them whenever means so much,” Lee said.
“I’m so much more grateful than I probably tell them I am.”