Published: May 07, 2008 06:29 pm            

Hubbard signs with Lindsey Wilson

GLASGOW — Lee Hubbard’s hard work and dedication paid off on Tuesday morning.

Hubbard signed a basketball scholarship with Lindsey Wilson College in front of family and friends at the Barren County High School library.

For the Fourth Region Player of the Year, it is a long way from being at the end of the bench in middle school.

“I know all of us are really proud of Lee and what he’s done here at this school,” said Steve Riley, who retired as Barren’s basketball coach last week. “He’s come a long way (from a guy) who was about the ninth best player on the seventh grade team to being the player of the year in the fourth region, and helping being part of a team that set a school record for most wins.

“I think Lee ended up being the third or fourth leading scorer in the state. That would have been OK if he was on a team that won 16 games. But that’s really good on a team that won 26 games. That’s a really big deal. We’re really proud of him.”

Hubbard agreed, saying that being that far down the bench gave him the drive to work hard and improve his game.

“It’s not been easy,” he said. “I didn’t play much my seventh grade year. I probably played half the game, if that. It just gave me a mental mindset to train my body physically, in and out of the weight room each and every day, on and off the basketball court, running, shooting, coming in before school in the morning at 5:30, 6 o’clock.

“It was just a physical and mental drive inside of me that I had to do to be able to be able to be the player that I am, to be the player, my junior and senior year, that I’ve been, to be the fourth region player of the year, that God’s blessed me with the talent he’s given to me.”

Hubbard averaged 25 points per game and just under 10 rebounds a contest to lead the Trojans to a school-record 26-7 season. He broke the school’s single-game scoring mark with 45 points on Jan. 5, an 87-57 win over the Kilsyth Cobras, a traveling team from Australia. Hubbard played in less than three quarters of that game.

In addition to the impressive numbers and physical skills, the 6-1 Hubbard also possesses intangibles that can’t be measured, according to Lindsey Wilson head coach Paul Peck.

“Lee’s heart, his athletic ability, his aggressiveness to not want to lose (are key),” Peck said. “He just willed them to win a lot of times. Plus, he’s just worked and worked and worked to where he’s gotten such good skills. He shoots the ball well from outside, he shoots the ball well inside, he rebounds, and then he just knows how to play.

“He’s progressed up, from the ninth best player on the 7th grade team, and now he’s the best player in the fourth region. That’s how we can see him progressing in the future. We want him to continue on, and we think he has the opportunity to do that.”

Hubbard will have a position change to adjust to as well, moving to the shooting guard spot at Lindsey Wilson. Hubbard moved inside and outside at Barren.

“He wants me at a shooting guard,” Hubbard said. “He (Coach Peck) said, as of now, they do not have a shooting guard. Hopefully I’m going to be able to fill that spot, and from now on, it’s just going to be another drive, just like I had when I was in 7th grade, it’s going to be starting all over for four more years.”

It’s a adjustment that the Lindsey Wilson coaching staff expects Hubbard to adjust to quickly.

“That’s going to be something that he’s going to have to learn how to handle,” Peck said. “One, he’s going to have to learn defensively how to guard out there, and two, he’s going to have to get his ball handling a little better. But we know he’ll do it, because he’s always done it.”

“He’ll make that adjustment very quickly, because he’s not coming in as a frail 18-year old,” Peck continued. “He’s already got a great body. He’s already learned the physical part of playing in the post. Our league is really, really physical anyway, at the guard play, at the post play, all of it is physical. And he knows how to do that. So I expect him to be able to make the transition very easy.”

Hubbard was recruited by several other schools, including Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn., Transylvania University, Georgetown College, Campbellsville University, Kentucky Wesleyan University, Volunteer State Community College and “a couple of schools out of Florida.”

Hubbard said he chose Lindsey Wilson because of the atmosphere, the town, the coaching staff and getting the opportunity to play at a school “with a Christ-based community.”

“I can see myself playing under coach Peck and Coach Starks,” Hubbard said. “They’re really nice guys. But most importantly, I didn’t want to make a decision just on what Lee Hubbard wanted to do, I wanted to do what God wanted me to do.”

        

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