Brandon Lee Scouting Report: Illinois Basketball 2025-2026

Every weekday leading up to Illinois' Nov. 3 regular-season opener at Champaign's State Farm Center, Illinois on SI will share a scouting report for each Illini player on the team's official roster. Today, in the eighth of 14, we shine a light on guard Brandon Lee. Find our scouting reports of other Illinois players (as they're added) by searching in your favorite browser or clicking in our projected depth chart.

Brandon Lee | 6-foot-4 guard | Freshman | No. 1

Where is Brandon Lee from?

Lee played his high school basketball at The Patrick School in Hillside, New jersey, an institution that has produced several NBA players (most notably Kyrie Irving), along with a name quite familiar to Illini fans: Giorgi Bezhanishvili. But his story – perhaps unsurprisingly, for an Illini recruit – has an international flavor.

Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Lee played for Puerto Rico’s FIBA U18 squad this past summer, recording 13.3 points per game. His father, Butch Lee, was a star on Marquette's 1977 national champions, the 1978 Naismith Player of the Year and a first-round pick in the NBA Draft.

Brandon Lee statistics and 2024-25 season

As a high school senior, Lee averaged 22.0 points to finish with more than 2,000 points for his varsity career. His 106 three-pointers led the entire state of New Jersey, as did his 161 free throws.

For his AAU ball, Lee was a member of New York Renaissance on the Nike EYBL circuit, and was the third-leading scorer on the entire circuit.

Scouting Brandon Lee

Although the 6-foot-4 Lee was recruited as a three-level scorer, the initial thought was he would arrive in Champaign specializing as a long-distance shooter. His jumper mechanics and rhythm are ideal. The ability to get the shot off can be affected by release time and defender length, but otherwise Lee's stroke translates to college fairly seamlessly.

The rest of it? For most true freshmen, attacking the basket against stronger, taller, more athletic and seasoned defenders is an uphill battle. But Lee is different. In Illinois' exhibition win against Illinois State to unofficially open its 2025-26 season, Lee made it quite apparent that he won’t be deterred getting downhill. His deep ball will surely be a weapon, but his strength, tenacity and handle could make getting to the cup his calling card at this level.

Additionally, Lee offers a defensive presence that could potentially match that of Kylan Boswell in the coming years. He could even surpass those levels, given Lee’s additional size.

Brandon Lee highlights

Lots to like from #Illini freshman Brandon Lee in Sunday's exhibition vs Illinois State.

He scored 17 points, got to the line nicely (shot eight free throws).

Fouling will be an area Underwood asks him to clean up - he had four. pic.twitter.com/1eSmRuSZMf
— Glenn Kinley (@glenn_kinley) October 21, 2025

What they're saying about Brandon Lee

“Brandon, defensively, I’m really excited to play with him. I can tell he can guard,” Boswell said of Lee during the summer.

What we expect from Brandon Lee

The guard depth, which figured to be a strength for the Illini heading into the season, is now a bit shaky with Ty Rodgers sidelined by injury and Mihailo Petrovic’s eligibility still up in the air. Although Petrovic’s situation is expected to be cleared up soon enough, the circumstances have allowed Lee an opportunity to work his way into the rotation.

An on point pass from Kylan Boswell sets up Brandon Lee for the easy bunny!

Subscribe/watch on B1G+ pic.twitter.com/DSFXJkMLem
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) October 19, 2025

As the season gets underway, Lee should be the second guard off the bench behind fellow freshman Keaton Wagler, and he should give the Illini valuable minutes on both ends from the start. He doesn't shape up as a full-blown star on Day 1 – though there’s no telling what he may develop into – but Lee figures to be a consistent and steady presence on both ends, and won’t take anything off the table.