BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — LSU senior golfer Lisette Lee was named the winner of the prestigious 1999-2000 H. Boyd McWhorter Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer announced Thursday.
The award will be presented to Lee at the conference’s annual Spring Meeting Awards Dinner in Destin, Fla., on June 1.
Lee and Joey Pitts, the male recipient who is a men’s tennis player at the University of Georgia, were chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from the 12 SEC universities. Each will receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship, provided by Alltel.
“The Southeastern Conference and Alltel are extremely proud to honor these two student-athletes for their accomplishments,” said Kramer. “Lisette and Joey represent all that is good in intercollegiate athletics. Through their hard work, dedication and commitment — both on and off the playing fields — Lisette and Joey have become leaders on their athletic squads, campuses and communities.”
Lee becomes the first league golfer, male or female, to win the award since it was established in 1986.
A four-year letterwinner for the LSU golf team who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.97, Lee has served as the Lady Tiger captain for two seasons. She is currently third in the SEC in scoring, averaging 75.33 strokes per round, and is 11th in the nation in the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. So far in 2000, Lee has been named SEC Golfer of the Week twice and was the individual medalist at the Lady Gamecock Invitational in Columbia, S.C. The win marked the second win of her college career.
She has also finished in the top 10 in three different tournaments this season and has 12 top 10 finishes for her LSU career.
“It’s wonderful to get recognized in such a big way,” said Lee, upon learning of the honor. “I totally did not expect it all. I’m very, very pleased.”
Lee, a Business Administration major, has been active in many community service and campus activities, such as the Student-Athlete Advisory Board, volunteering at junior golf clinics and elementary schools and working on toy and food drives for needy individuals. She is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Golden Key National Honor Society and Beta Gamma Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society for Business. Lee plans on obtaining a MBA degree following her undergraduate study at LSU.
Lee knows full-well the problems of juggling both an academic and athletic life.
“Especially with golf,” she said. “When we have a tournament we leave on Wednesday and don’t return until late Sunday night. It does get a little difficult with all the traveling and catching up on school work. Unlike some of the other sports, golf is a year round thing. We have a fall and a spring season. You definitely have to know how to manage your time as a golfer and handling the academics as well. Most of the professors are cooperative and I’ve just learned that it’s tough, but you just have to learn to fit it in, whether it’s before your practice round or at night in the hotel.”
“She has been a tremendous asset for our team,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “Her winning this award is tremendous. Academics has always been very important to Lisette. She is quite deserving of this award and I couldn’t be prouder of her. She not only takes care of her golf, but she also makes time to do
other things. That spells being a complete student-athlete as well as a well-rounded person. She is the type of individual which I have tried to recruit and have on my team, so I’m very excited that she exemplifies all that. She is everything you would want to have in a team captain and a senior.”
Lee has been a four-year member of the LSU Dean’s list, a three-year member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and NCAA Scholastic All-America team. She was a recipient of the LSU Athletic Director’s Cup for Academic Excellence and was named to the GTE Academic All-District VI team in 1999.
“This next month I will be graduating and I will no longer be playing sports for LSU,” said Lee, when contemplating the future. “The future can be so uncertain if you don’t plan ahead. One of the things in golf is to stay in the present and not think of the next hole or what’s ahead on the course. But in life you always have to plan for the future. That’s why education is so important because it gives you the other options necessary once your athletic career is over.”
Lee is the daughter of Leonard and Bettye Bordelon of Kenner, La.
“I’m very excited for Lisette,” said her mother, Bettye. “She has tried to do well both academically and to excel on the golf course. I’m so very proud of her because she tries her best in both areas.”
In addition to the two $10,000 winners, 11 other male and female finalists for the McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award will receive a $5,000 scholarship made possible by funds provided by Alltel. One of those receiving that award is senior Tom Hand of the LSU men’s tennis team.
The SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award was first presented in 1986 and was renamed for McWhorter in May 1990 to honor the former commissioner who served the conference from 1972-76.