Princeton’s Xaivian Lee is taking college basketball by storm
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Recruited by no other program, the point guard is lighting up foes and gathering followers as the Tigers stack wins in pursuit of another March run.
Xaivian Lee’s first exposure to basketball did not go so well. Right away, as a 7-year-old at a camp run by NBA great and fellow Canadian Steve Nash, he wanted to quit.
“They had to put a hula hoop under the rim for me to shoot through because I couldn’t get the ball all the way up,” Lee said. “My mom was like, ‘You’ve got to just finish all the sessions and then we’ll see what happens.’”
What happened is something no one could predict. Lee got good, to the point where he caught the attention of another Toronto resident, Cordell Llewellyn, whose son Jaelin was playing at Princeton University. Cordell, who himself had laced it up at Wake Forest, sent a note to Tigers associate head coach Brett MacConnell.
“This kid Xaivian Lee, he’s small but he’s getting bigger,” it read. “You should watch his film.”
MacConnell saw a 5-foot-something toothpick with great ball skills. He predicted a growth spurt. Princeton started recruiting Lee.
“No one else did,” Lee said. “This was the only school I ever talked to.”
When Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson finally saw him play live, in the late spring of 2021, his eyes nearly fell out of his head.
“I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure I was the only one in the gym,” Henderson said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Three years later, heads are still turning. Now a 6-foot-3 sophomore at Old Nassau, Lee’s point-guard play is a driving force behind Princeton’s 15-1 record, but his star is rising beyond the Ivy League. He’s one of the best playmakers in the country – and a budding cultural phenomenon.
When Princeton won at Columbia last weekend, the stands in Levien Gymnasium were populated in part by local fans of Asian descent who were there just to root for him (a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, Lee has South Korean family roots). His Instagram page has 26,000 followers – more than anyone else in New Jersey college basketball. After Lee lit up Harvard for 33 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists (while committing just 1 turnover) at Jadwin Gym earlier this month, a line of fans formed seeking selfies.
“I see this thing really starting to explode,” MacConnell said.
Using both hands
From an early age, Lee was encouraged by his parents to play multiple sports – he was a shortstop and second baseman on the diamond in high school.
“My mom, as long as I could remember, made me do everything with my left hand – eat with my left, brush my teeth with my left, I even hold my phone on my left hand.” the righthander said. “She told me, you’ve got to use both hands for basketball.”
It paid off. Defenses can’t funnel Lee to one side or the other. He finishes at the rim with both hands. They can’t sag on him to clog the driving lanes, either, because he’s shooting 37 percent from 3-point range.
Read More: Princeton’s Xaivian Lee is taking college basketball by storm 2024-01-26 23:31:44