Ayoka Lee returns to Manhattan with unfinished business
Sunday was a good day for women's basketball.
In the afternoon, undefeated South Carolina played Iowa and record-breaker Caitlin Clark in the National Championship, drawing a record crowd to ABC.
Then, just hours later, Kansas State center Ayoka Lee announced her intentions to return to Manhattan for one year of eligibility.
We'll let you decide which event is more prominent but the fact is that K-State left Saturday looking like winners.
"This is an iconic time in women's athletics," head coach Jeff Mittie said. "I think that we're coming off a year where there were more eyeballs on women's sports than ever before. ... I think Yoki is one of those players that, going into next year, will have an opportunity to be the face of women's basketball."
Lee's decision to return to K-State was not cut-and-dry. With a basketball skill set that will allow her to play professionally and a master's degree, Lee weighed multiple decisions before returning to K-State for one last ride.
"It's always good to have options," Lee said. "I knew there wasn't really a bad decision when I was kind of going through all my options. Had to think of some life and adult things, as you do once you get to your mid-20s."
But in the end, Lee was drawn to one last dance, and a chance to accomplish some unfinished business.
"There's a lot of goals we didn't accomplish this year that we wanted to," Lee explained. "So, just having the opportunity to come back and have another chance to do those was a big part of the decision."
According to Lee, she made the decision last week and informed the team, including Jeff Mittie, on Sunday night.
She first texted Rebekah Dallinger and Gabby Gregory about how much she enjoyed the Senior Night and wanted an opportunity to have an encore at Bramlage Coliseum. Then, she texted her other teammates with one goal in mind: a Big 12 Championship.
Last season, the Wildcats came up just short of clinching a spot in the Big 12 Championship game, falling to eventual winners Texas in the semifinals. Lee's normal dominance was a staple throughout their run, but the Wildcats ran out of gas on a spirited comeback and eventually fell.
But it was last year's heartbreak that has helped lead to today's jubilation.
"My teammates are a big part of it. You're not going to go to every school and have great relationship with all your teammates. So, I think that's a really big part of it," Lee said. "Then, just coming off the year we had. We're capable of winning the conference title and things like that. And not being able to do that was frustrating this year."
Winning a conference championship isn't easy, but plenty of factors play in K-State's favor.
For the first time in a few years, Lee won't spend a summer rehabbing an injury. Fingers crossed, she'll spend a summer improving her skills and not on a training table in the facility.
"I don't think she's had, in three of four years of summer, where she wasn't rehabbing to play basketball," Mittie said. "This summer, she'll be able to hone in on working a little bit differently."
There's also the chance that Lee's load is managed during the out-of-conference schedule, as K-State has added to their front-court depth with Missouri State transfer Kennedy Taylor during the off-season.
"It's one of the reasons why we wanted to get better depth along the front line," Mittie explained. "We did discuss in the non-con that we take a look at the schedule when we get that finalized to say maybe here's a spot that we pick."
With two scholarships at K-State's disposal, there's a chance for the Wildcats to attack the portal for two more players, though it doesn't appear like Mittie is going to add a player for the sake of adding one.
"We're still looking at the portal to see if there's a right fit for us going forward," Mittie said. "And I think the reality of it is, it's a positive in the portal that people want to play on winning teams."
Regardless of how that search goes, though, one thing is for certain.
Lee will have an opportunity to be one of the faces of women's college basketball and there's no better place to do that than the Little Apple.
"I feel like that's kind of like an added bonus," Lee said. "I'm not huge on making like emotional decisions ... But no, I think that's definitely just very powerful and will have a huge impact on the community and women's basketball as a whole."
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