Lee to play volleyball at Truett-McConnell
For the better part of the last four years, Jake Lee has been one of the top runners for the Gordon Lee Trojans, both in cross country and on the track.
He enjoyed three top 15 finishes at the state cross country championships and helped the Trojans to a fourth-place team finish at the state track championships as a sophomore. Part of that included his dramatic 3200-meter state title run in which he out-leaned the pre-race favorite at the tape to win by .06 of a second and set a new Gordon Lee record (10:18.96) in the process.
He went on to share the 2019 Walker County Boys’ Track Athlete of the Year award later that spring and many expected him to go on and become a college athlete. Last Monday, he did just that as he signed a letter of intent with Truett-McConnell University in front of friends, family and coaches in Chickamauga.
However, instead of cross country or track,
Lee is going to play volleyball with the school’s newest varsity team. The NAIA Bears, mostly a freshmen squad, are currently in their inaugural season of men’s volleyball in the Appalachian Athletic Conference.
Lee said he enjoyed watching his older sister, Hannah, play the sport. He began to sharpen his own skills by helping her practice and eventually assisting her team at Gordon Lee training sessions, something he continued to do throughout his four years at GLHS. He was also familiar with the university, where Hannah
is now in her senior season playing libero for the Lady Bears.
“I’m really excited about getting the opportunity to play with a new team,” Lee said. “In my mind, it was always a little dream (to play volleyball), so with me never having played before, just them taking a chance on me is exciting and just to make it official is really cool. Now it’s guaranteed that this is what I’m going to do.”
Lee said he had offers to run in college, even at TMU, but elected to ultimately follow his heart.
“I’ve always run and I think everyone expected me to (run in college), so this is kind of going out on a limb and just trusting the dream
of it,” he explained. “Running is something I’ve always enjoyed doing, but I’m definitely excited to be able to do something different that I’ve also really enjoyed.”
“He’s actually very talented,” said Tricia Goodwin, who has seen Lee on the court during her time as a coach at Gordon Lee. “He’s a great athlete and we know he’s a great track and cross country runner. He always has been. But when he gets on the volleyball court, that’s when you see him shine.
“He loves it, he’s super competitive and he’s extremely fast. He’s been watching the game for years and knows it really well and I think he’s going to do really well.”
Lee said he attended one of the Bears’ practices while
visiting his sister and she mentioned to the team that her younger brother knew how to play. Soon after, he went through a few drills with the club and the Bears saw Lee’s potential.
“They saw me play and said they would really like for me come up there,” he continued. “Just hearing that made me think, ‘maybe I am good?’.
“They’re still very new and they have a lot of walk-ons and I think they’re lacking a lot of passing. Since I’m short, compared to a lot of men’s volleyball players, (passing) is going to be my strong point. It always has been. I’ll probably end up as a defensive specialist or maybe a libero, but it will probably be defense. I’m
not going to be hitting the ball in any way.”
Lee’s high school running coaches both said they felt he would be successful at his new sport because of the work ethic he has shown over the past four years.
“He worked his way to the state championships and won one as a sophomore,” track coach Dan Roberts explained. “He came in when we already had a pretty good team and he got us a lot of points. He’s just a hard worker and he’s going to be successful at whatever he does.”
“I think he’s got the character and the work ethic (to be a good college athlete),” cross country coach Nathan Burns added. “He’s a great kid and fun to be around
and he won’t have any issues switching over to volleyball. He just works really hard and he’s going to do well. From what I hear, he’s pretty good on the volleyball court too.”
Lee, who said he is considering business as a major, said he would have chosen TMU even if volleyball wasn’t in the picture.
“I wanted to go to a school, athletics or not, that would be a school I would still want to go to if sports were taken away,” he said, adding that he appreciated the school’s Christian focus. “This is going to be an opportunity for me to grow and become a stronger Christian and I think that’s really important and special about Truett. It’s why I fell in love with it.”