When Northwestern coach Bill Carmody talks about freshman guard Brandon Lee, he looks and speaks like a disappointed father.
Lee was suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules Wednesday and did not travel with the team to its game against Minnesota.
This is the second time Lee has been suspended this season, with the first punishment occurring Jan. 13 for another unspecified violation of team rules. Carmody said he cannot comment or elaborate on the details of the suspension because of privacy laws.
Junior T.J. Parker said he wished Lee had learned his lesson the first time around.
“After his first suspension, I told him, ‘You have to keep your head in the game. You can’t do those little things on the side,'” Parker said.
As a teammate of NBA rookie Shaun Livingston’s at Peoria Central High School, Lee was considered a leader by his coaches and teammates.
“It’s disappointing because I never thought a guy like that from a winning program would come and do this stuff off the court,” Parker said. “It’s kind of sad.”
Lee is not practicing with the team while under suspension and could not be reached for comment.
“I wish (Lee) was in the mix,” Carmody said. “It is what it is. He was playing because I thought he was pretty good, and he was getting more and more minutes because I … thought he could help us.”
Lee started his collegiate career with a bang, but a serious injury and off-court troubles have impeded his progress.
In the team’s season opener against Portland on Nov. 19, Lee hit a go-ahead trey with 19 seconds left to set up a game-winner from Parker on the Wildcats’ next possession.
Lee came off the bench for 13 minutes in the game and finished with a career-high six points and two assists.
As the only freshman in the rotation, Lee continued to garner time on the floor. Against Virginia on Dec. 1, Lee played 17 minutes and scored five points. Three days later, he played a career-high 19 minutes against Chicago State, finishing with two points, an assist and a steal.
But in the week following the Chicago State game, things took a turn for the worse for Lee.
During a practice Dec. 12, Lee crashed into center Mike Thompson’s elbow and fractured his right orbital. The injury forced Lee to wear a protective mask in practice and games, which he’ll have to wear for the remainder of the season.
Shortly after coming back from the injury, Lee was suspended for nearly two weeks in January and now his return from his current suspension may be even longer.
“I still love the guy,” Parker said. “He’s a great guy. It’s just if he could have kept his head in basketball, it would have been better.”
As a freshman, Parker also came into the program and made an instant impact. Lee seemed destined to follow the same path.
“When I came here as a freshman, all I wanted to do was play right away,” Parker said. “I thought he had the same feeling.”
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