‘I’m feeling good’: K-State star Ayoka Lee expects healthy return for NCAA Tournament
Serena Sundell doesn’t think it’s fair to judge the Kansas State women’s basketball team based on how it played at the end of the regular season.
Sure, the Wildcats have barely won more games than they have lost over the past two months. And their slide from 19-1 to 26-7 is why they narrowly missed out on hosting postseason games at Bramlage Coliseum.
But most of those losses came without center Ayoka Lee, who has been sidelined with foot injuries.
K-State is 18-1 with Lee in the starting lineup. The Wildcats are confident they can regain that form now that their star center is back at practice and on track to play for the No. 5 seed Wildcats when they face the No. 12 seed Fairfield Stags on Friday in Lexington, Kentucky.
“She has just such a big role for our team,” Sundell said. “The way I see the court, she can have different reads off that and open things up. It’s just completely different. I’ve felt really good about our last few practices with her in it. She just brings everyone up around her. I feel good about how we’re playing right now, and I’m excited to play in the NCAA Tournament.”
Indeed, there is hope that K-State will play its best basketball in March Madness with Lee back in the fold.
The 6-foot-6 senior is averaging 15.5 points and 6.1 rebounds this season. The Wildcats were a consensus top 10 team when she was healthy. Without her, they have gone 8-6. Even worse, they only won three of their final eight games with her watching from the bench.
Perhaps things will be different with her back in the starting lineup. But her return comes with questions. Here’s a big one: Is she healthy enough to play 25 minutes per game? The last time she tried to play she only lasted 5 minutes in a home game against Kansas.
“I’m feeling good,” Lee said. “It’s been a good progression. I was doing everything in practice last Thursday.”
How close does she feel to 100% health?
“Pretty close,” Lee said. “I don’t have any worries or reservations.”
K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said that Lee has looked “probably as good as we could expect” at practice. The Wildcats have been so pleased with her recovery that they let her warm up in front of fans before games at the Big 12 Tournament. Later, they shared video footage of her showing off low-post moves at a closed practice.
She may not even be on a minute restriction in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s at the end of her career,” Mittie said. “I think you’re on whatever kind of restriction you can gut-out and do. She’s probably not able to go long, long stretches without a rest. With her conditioning level, we are probably going to have to rest her. But that is just me being smart and getting her breaks before the media (timeout) and getting her breaks at the end of quarters. That will just be on me to do a good job with that.”
Bottom line: K-State is better with Lee.
After a disappointing end to the regular season, the Wildcats are eager to prove what they can accomplish with Lee in the postseason.
“We had a really good week of practice,” Mittie said. “We got the emotional boost of having Lee out there. So don’t discount that. You’re out there working with her and everybody’s excited to have her back. We got a good emotional boost in that regard.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 12:26 PM with the headline "‘I’m feeling good’: K-State star Ayoka Lee expects healthy return for NCAA Tournament."