Pressing question: Is Marcus Lee happy at UK?

LEXINGTON, Ky. – By now we know that Marcus Lee loves to bring joy to others, whether by uplifting letters or playtime with sick children or a helping hand for those in need, but what about him? Is Lee, the ninth man on Kentucky's undefeated basketball team, happy?

The 6-foot-9 sophomore, a former McDonald's All-American who can jump out of the gym, played just 22 total minutes in three SEC Tournament games last week. While he was productive in his time – eight points, six rebounds and a couple of momentum-boosting, put-back buckets – seven other Cats played at least 64 minutes.

For the season, Lee is averaging just 11.4 minutes and 2.7 points per game, lowest by far of any significant contributor. This is where some might wonder whether Lee is content in his role.

In February, after Lee played only six minutes in a narrow win over LSU, ESPN college basketball writer Jeff Goodman tweeted that there is "no way he is happy with his role," and when questioned by UK fans added: "I hear things – and have heard some rumblings from the Marcus Lee Camp. We will see after (the) year."

Sounds ominous. So what does the Marcus Lee Camp have to say about this? That Goodman is right. Sort of.

"I don't think you could ever say that a kid that's not playing as much as he feels that he should is completely happy," Lee's older brother Bryan told The Courier-Journal. "And I don't think Marcus could say that he's a competitor if he's saying he's happy not playing. As selfless as he is, the kid wants to play."

Gulp, right? Crank up the transfer chatter. But …

"He's excited to be there. I don't know where people keep getting the idea he's not," Bryan Lee said. "Marcus is very excited for the team success, and that's his focus. He's on a great team – they're undefeated – and he just needs to keep competing. But if people want to say, 'Yes, he's happy not playing,' I think that's stupid, too. Because why would you be happy playing 10 minutes, you know?

"He still has a fighter inside him that is like, 'I do want to play with these guys. I want to play 25 minutes.' So I don't think he's settling and he's not happy with the minutes he's getting, but he's very happy with the opportunity and happy with life."

Lee looked happy after Sunday's SEC championship game – in which he played just seven minutes but produced four points and three boards – when he grabbed a TV camera and proceeded to playfully interview Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns. Those are the guys who take away his minutes.

"We all need each other," Lee said. "If we help each other like we are right now, as we have this whole season, if we're helping each other and making each other better, then we can do no wrong."

But what does it mean for his future if Lee yearns for more playing time in a program where that is never promised and the next wave of top recruits is always right around the corner? It means he plans to put in even more work this offseason and earn his time next year.

"That's what he's looking forward to," his brother said. "I think that he understood exactly what he was getting into going in. Of course he wanted to play more, but I'm sure Dakari (Johnson) wants to play more, too. They know what they signed up for. Marcus was never a one-and-done. That was never in the conversation. People that know basketball know that he wasn't a finished product. He came in at 6-9, 180 pounds.

"We've always figured he would be in college three years or graduate, so this is kind of still in the plan. He gets to be a part of this – he's enjoying the position he's in – but he just wants to make a little bit more of an impact, and I think he's on pace to do that next year."

Well that doesn't sound like a guy planning to leave Kentucky after the season. But mama knows best. What does Sherri Lee have to say?

"(The Cats) have all been great team players and they seem to understand that everything is for the best of the whole team," she told The Courier-Journal. "Marcus has always understood that, always been a role player for his team, even in high school. He could be a leader when they needed him to be, but he also understood his role."

And Bryan reminds: Don't discount the possibility of Lee making a major impact in the NCAA Tournament, which begins Thursday night for No. 1 overall seed Kentucky. He came off the bench to deliver a magical performance in last year's Elite Eight, after Cauley-Stein got hurt, and helped push the Cats into the Final Four.

Even if there is not a similar breakout game during this year's run, Lee's brother believes his future at UK is bright.

"He's gained 40 pounds since he's been there and he's getting better," Bryan said. "The whole point of going to Kentucky was figuring out how to become a monster."

Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.