Bucknell Alum Charles Lee Signs with Israeli First Division Team - BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Bucknell Alum Charles Lee Signs with Israeli First Division Team

2006 Patriot League Player of Year Had been in San Antonio Spurs Preseason Camp

Charles Lee's pro career will begin in Israel.

Nov. 15, 2006

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Charles Lee, a 2006 Bucknell graduate and one of the final cuts of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, has signed a contract to play for Hapoel Gilboa/Afula, a first-division club in Israel. Lee, the 2006 Patriot League Player of the Year and a two-time Patriot League Tournament MVP, joins a Gilboa/Afula team that has dropped its first two games of the season.

Lee played with the Spurs' summer league team in Salt Lake City and was invited to training camp with the veterans last month. He saw action in the team's preseason games, including three on a tour of France, but was waived just prior to the start of the regular season.

Last season Lee helped lead the Bison to a best-ever 27-5 record, a second straight league title and a second straight trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He became the first player in Patriot League history to be named tournament MVP twice, then he scored 24 points in a first-round won over Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament.

Lee was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press after leading the Bison in scoring at 13.2 points per game, and he was the team's catalyst as it posted an unprecedented 14-0 Patriot League record. He scored in double figures in each of the last 14 games of the season and averaged 16.0 points per game over that span.

He graduated with 1,147 career points, which ranks 21st on Bucknell's all-time scoring list. He also ranks 18th on Bucknell's career rebounding chart with 568, making him one of only 15 players in program history to amass 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Lee also ranks fifth in school history in steals with 167.

Lee is not the first Bucknell graduate to play in Israel. Boakai Lalugba, who now plays in Sweden, signed with an Israeli club at the start of his pro career.