Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2017
- Class:
- 2006
Sport: Basketball
Charles Lee was another standout performer on those 2005 and 2006 championship men's basketball teams. Along with Kevin Bettencourt, he co-captained both squads, leading them to Patriot League titles and NCAA Tournament victories over Kansas and Arkansas. Lee was the 2006 Patriot League Player of the Year, a three-time all-conference selection (first team in 2005 and 2006, second team in 2004), and the first player in league history to win back-to-back Tournament MVP awards.
The charismatic Lee was at his very best in big conference games, and he helped the Bison to a perfect 14-0 Patriot League record in 2005-06. His 24-point performance helped the team rally from a 15-point deficit with 15 minutes to play on the road at arch-rival Holy Cross. That win helped lock up the regular-season title and home-court advantage throughout the Patriot League Tournament, where he proceeded to score 43 points in three games, including 16 against Holy Cross in the final, to become the first repeat Tournament MVP.
Lee finished his career with 1,147 career points, which ranked 20th at the time of his graduation. He scored 24 points in the win over Arkansas – the most ever by a Bison in an NCAA Tournament game at the time – including the tie-breaking basket in the final minute. The 2006 Kribbs Award co-recipient as team MVP, Lee was the final preseason cut of the San Antonio Spurs and went on to play professionally in Europe. He later became an assistant coach at Bucknell -- where he went back to the NCAA Tournament in 2013 -- before moving into the NBA coaching ranks.
Lee received the Christy Mathewson Award as the top athlete in his class, and he was also a member of the Patriot League 25th Anniversary Team.
(Hall of Fame Class of 2017)
