9/25/2020 football Edit

Old National Presents: Catching up with ... Doug Lee

Tom Dienhart • BoilerUpload

GoldandBlack.com, Associate Editor

Lee was a co-captain along with Tim Fisher for Gene Keady's 1986-87 team.

Doug Lee was at Purdue just two seasons, but he made a big impact.

The Washington, Ill., native began his career at Texas A&M, where he played his first two seasons before transferring to Purdue. He sat out the 1984-85 season and played the next two. Lee averaged 9.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Boilermakers.

As a senior, the 6-5, 225-pound guard helped the Boilermakers win the Big Ten title and advance to the NCAA tourney for a second time with Lee on the roster.

Lee was the first pick of the Houston Rockets (35th overall) in the 1987 NBA draft. He played three seasons in the NBA, spending two seasons with the Nets and a season with Kings. Lee also played many seasons overseas and in the CBA.

Lee has been a successful businessman running a public company and with his wife for years in Las Vegas. They operate ProSource, a marketing and advertising company that supplies, distributes and manufactures logoed products, as well as owning Ashley Furniture distributorship in several states.

GoldandBlack.com caught up with the 55-year-old Lee.

GoldandBlack.com: How did you end up at Texas A&M coming out of high school?

Lee: They started recruiting me after my freshman year. Back in those days, that was kind of unheard of. So, they actually saw me play a game in the summer. I was from a small town, and I just really kind of got taken in by that. You’re young and you think it’s really cool, so I went there because of the early recruiting and it is a beautiful campus. I committed to them early. I had a good senior year and was MVP of the Illinois All-Star game, so everyone came after me at that point, but I stayed committed to Texas A&M.

GoldandBlack.com: How did you matriculate to Purdue?

Lee: I had a great experience at A&M in many ways. I was playing a lot at point guard as a freshman. I got hurt my sophomore year and they would not let me redshirt, as they wanted me back for the end of the season and it was not what was best for me, as I knew I needed at least a year of rehab to fully be back to 100 percent. That was a point of division for me, as I knew the staff was under a lot of pressure to win and it was actually one of my first lessons in how this was in some ways like business. At one point, I believe coach Keady spoke to Eddie Sutton at Arkansas, as they were friends. I also received a signed letter by Larry Bird, as Indiana State was interested, which I was very impressed by. I knew that I could be a huge scorer at a school like Indiana State or in the MVC like I was in high school, but my oldest brother Benjie--who lived in Lafayette at the time--challenged me to go meet with Coach Keady. I had a lot of schools courting me. but Coach Keady said I wouldn’t play 1 or 2 guard, as he had just recruited Troy Lewis and Everette Stephens as guards. So, I would have to play a swing guard/small forward position. I was like: ‘Really?’ But Coach laid it all out for me. He told me the things I needed to hear in my life. Coach Keady made no promises at a time that a lot of schools were. Coach Keady said to me: 'Look, I make no promises. We run a clean program, you have to earn what you get.' I felt like: Who is he to say this when others were all over me? But in a way, it attracted more the challenge. Maybe he planned that.

GoldandBlack.com: What did Coach Keady mean to you?

Lee: At one point early in my time at Purdue, I overheard Coach Keady say 'Lee is one of the toughest kids I have coached.' He would have never said it to a player, but it meant the world to me. It validated that all of the hard work had paid off. Coach did everything the right way, and you want to be a part of the program. I think we can win a championship together. That just captured me. Learning how to be part of a team was maybe the biggest thing I learned at Purdue. Accepting a role. And excelling in it. Bruce Weber and Kevin Stallings were also great to learn from during the transfer year that I had to sit out. Thankful for those guys.

GoldandBlack.com: What was the highlight of your time at Purdue?

Lee: I think the highlight for me was becoming a non-scorer, because that was what I had done all my life up to that point. I scored everywhere I was at before Purdue/ After Purdue, I went overseas and was counted on to score 25-30 every night. I remember having games of 40-plus points regularly and having learned an overall game, it help me longevity-wise to be a well-balanced player. I set three-point records overseas and in the CBA. At Purdue, it was just a time for me where I had to learn to build unity as a leader and not focus on just scoring. At times, Coach Keady would look at me and I could tell that he needed me to step it up offensively. But believe me, we had no shortage of scorers with Troy Lewis, Todd Mitchell and Everette Stephens. I took pride in scoring when needed and becoming an all-around player. When the game was on the line, I always wanted the ball and my teammates, as well as coaching staff, always supported me.

So, the overall highlight for me is kind of different probably than what people think. It was the life lesson I learned of sacrificing a part of my game that came naturally, in order to be better overall for the team and everyone. I really embraced that role and something that to this day has helped me be a better leader and team member. My teammates and coaches overall were awesome and I love keeping in touch with many of them still today. Bruce and Megan Weber are very special to Becky and I, as we stay in close contact. I actually still admire Tim Fisher to this day, as he worked so hard everyday not knowing how much he would play. He was always ready.

The games I remember?

My junior year (In the 1986 NCAA tourney) against LSU, which went down as one of the best games to watch and is shown a lot on ESPN Classics over the years. We lost that first-round NCAA game and I thought that was a great team.

My senior year, it was when we played Reggie Lewis (Northeastern in NCAA first round).

All we heard about was Reggie Lewis … How it was gonna be the Reggie Lewis Show. People kept reminding me that people were saying that. Coach Keady and his staff just knew how to get the best out of people, you know. I remember walking onto that court and thinking, 'I am going to take over tonight and after having 29 and 13.' I learned later that scouts never knew I was a scorer like that. How ironic as that was, that was how I started my high school career. But I learned at Purdue to sacrifice for the better of the team, which ultimately has taught me more in life than any big game has. That really is what I think about when I think about Coach Keady. He wanted to make you into the best young man you could be.

GoldandBlack.com: You were a second-round pick of the Rockets in the 1987 NBA Draft. Talk about your pro career.

Lee: Many scouts said that not playing guard full-time at Purdue dropped me down in the draft, but I loved my time there. Look; I got to play in the NBA, Europe and the CBA. I could have signed a couple more times in the NBA in the midst of my career, but at that time, money overseas for top players was better than sitting on the bench in the NBA and I wanted to play.

Once you make It to the top level, you start to see so much politics. But I reminded myself time and time again that I was so fortunate to play a game for a good living. I realized quickly that the top 50 players in the NBA are so above other players. But the rest of us, while skilled, were constantly waiting for playing time.

I backed up Drazen Petrovic and Mitch Richmond and they never got hurt. Sounds bad to say that, but you were not getting in for any extended time unless that happened. I remembered having a great preseason one year and then not playing for 22 games during the regular season. So frustrating. Today, there are so many more players on rosters. But back then, it was very limited. In the end, we were blessed in so many ways, and Becky and I really enjoyed our time overseas.

I actually learned so much in sports, as it became such a big business and it helped me quickly adapt to the business world once finished.

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Lee spent two of his three seasons in the NBA with the Nets. He was a second-round pick of the Rockets in 1987.

GoldandBlack.com: What have you been doing then since you left basketball?

Lee: Everyone around basketball wanted me to coach in the NBA but I didn’t want that lifestyle anymore for my family as we just had our Kids. It’s a lot of hours. I was set up to go coach if that was what we wanted but we came to Las Vegas with a minor league team and ended up getting involved in church plants and never left. It was the last place we thought we would live but we really enjoy the melting pot of people here.

I started out in ownership of a products-oriented business and quickly became the President of the Public company that purchased us. I was able to make a lot of mistakes, learn from them and together with Becky in 2014 we formed our own company and now have great employees and something very special. Bruce and Megan Weber unexpectedly came to us early on and have shown incredible support for us and we are forever thankful for that. We now do business with a ton of colleges and it would be great to include Purdue in that someday. We also have ownership in a few more companies and have partnered with retired professional athletes, as it still remains like a small fraternity. I feel very privileged to be a part of that. We also have distribution in Hawaii where we spend nearly three months each year. I do consulting work, as well. I guess you could say like my sports career, we do a little bit of everything. I still love just being a part of successful teams. I love the challenge every single day. My relationships with players goes very deep and I keep in touch with people like Doug Altenberger (Illinois) almost on a daily basis.

GoldandBlack.com: How long have you been in Las Vegas?

Lee: We have been in Las Vegas going on just over 20 years. Having lived around the world, it is one of the last places that we thought we would move, but It is actually very beautiful. We love the churches here and people have been great to us. We keep in touch with family back in the Midwest and of course get updates about Purdue from Todd and Jessica Foster, as we remain very close to them. Believe it or not; we get great quality time with family and friends, as they always want to visit the West Coast. We have snow skiing only 40 minutes away, a few hours drive to the beach and waking up everyday to see the mountains is very special.

We have such peace and joy. The Lord became a big part of our lives early in my professional career. Faith in Christ has grown to be the most important thing to us and we are blessed to love what we do each day together.

Lee helped Purdue win a share of the Big Ten title as a senior in 1986-87.

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