Jimmy Lee was one of the finest shooters in the history of Syracuse basketball. A local product, he followed his older brother Mike to Syracuse.

At Windsor High School, Lee averaged 26.2 ppg and 27.9 ppg his junior and senior seasons. He was a co-captain on the Syracuse Freshman team, leading the team to a 17-1 record, with 18.8 points and 4.8 rebounds a game.

Lee was an outstanding perimeter shooter, and one of the best free throw shooters in Syracuse history, hitting nearly 86% of his career free throw attempts. He was a clutch shooter and a decent ball handler. Syracuse made the NCAA tournament all three years that Lee was on the varsity, the first time that happened in school history.

His sophomore year, he was the leading reserve on the team, and the teams leading free throw shooter at 88.3% (which placed him fifth in the country). As a junior he moved into the starting lineup, and teamed with Dennis Duval in the backcourt. Lee once again led the team in free throw shooting, and also led the team in assists.

Lee's senior season turned out to be a magical one. The team had lost three seniors, including the flashy Duval. Lee and Rudy Hackett were the lone seniors on the team, and would be the co-captains. Lee would again lead the team in free throw shooting (this time sixth best in the country), and led the team in assists, while second in scoring behind Hackett. The team played solid through the season, but nothing spectacular

Then the fun began. The Orangemen made a wonderful run through the NCAA Tournament behind hot shooting Jimmy Lee. All the players were playing well, but Lee was at the top.

In the Sweet Sixteen against heavily favored North Carolina, Syracuse was trailing at 76-75 with time running out. The Tarheels threw the ball out of bounds with five seconds to go. On the ensuing inbound pass, Lee made an 18 foot jumper from the left of the key to give the Orangemen a 77-76 lead, and the eventual win (SU would score 1 more point on a Jimmy Williams free throw to make the final score 78-76). Lee would end up with 24 points. In the Elite Eight overtime victory over Kansas State Lee has 25 points. The team was the Cinderella story of the tournament, and shocked everyone by reaching the Final Four for the first time. They would unfortunately lose to Kentucky in the Final Four, but not after a marvelous run; Lee scored 23 in the loss.

Lee would make the NCAA All-Tournament team, and would lead all teams in scoring in the tournament. He was also named to the ECAC All Star Team.

Lee would be drafted in the 5th Round of the NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but would never play in the league. He would author a book about free throw shooting, entitled 'Fifteen Feet for Free', released in 2012.

Lee was named to the Syracuse All Century Team in 2000, and inducted into the Syracuse Hall of Fame in 2002. Jimmy and his brother Mike would become the first brothers at Syracuse to both score 1000+ points in their careers. Lee was named a Syracuse Letterwinner of Distinction in 2009.

©RLYoung 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012