Southland Conference Honors Deceased Player With Preseason Award

The Southland Conference honored the late Houston Christian basketball player Darius Lee as the league’s Preseason Player of the Year when the league announced its men’s preseason all-conference team on Tuesday.

Lee was killed in the early hours of the morning on June 20 after a shooting in his hometown of Harlem, N.Y. He was 21.

As a second-team all-Southland selection, Lee would have been the only returner who earned first-team preseason all-conference honors this season. His preseason honor is one that the conference does not typically award.

Lee will also be honored later in the season when the Huskies play in the Darius Lee Memorial Classic on Nov. 21 at Rice University.

Lee began his college basketball career at SUNY Sullivan, where he earned All-American honors, before enrolling at Houston Christian. Last season, Lee was named the Robbie Robertson Male Student Athlete of the Year on campus and led the team in scoring, rebounding and ranked seventh nationally in steals per game.

He also notched 52 points against McNeese in last season’s finale, the highest point total by a Division I player in the 2021-22 season to tie the program’s record for most points in a single game.

Prior to his death, Lee was on track to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in December.