SE: Staying Mindful with K-State’s Latest Academic All-American
Jun 04, 2021 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
There are times, Ayoka Lee remembers, when her teammates catch her using her psych brain.
"Someone will just make a comment," she said. "And I'll be like, 'Oh yeah that makes complete sense because A + B = C.' And then I have to apologize if they just wanted to have a conversation."
That side of K-State's newest CoSIDA Academic All-American might be old news to her teammates, but it's easy to miss alongside Lee's many 2021 accolades.
The Ayoka Lee page on KStateSports.com is approaching the length of an undergrad thesis, which makes sense as the redshirt junior recently graduated from Kansas State in three years.
The Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2020, Lee followed it up with her second straight All-Big 12 season in 2021. Her player efficiency rating ranked third in the whole country.
Off the court, Lee was also accepted into the couple and family therapy master's program at K-State and will begin working towards her graduate degree in the fall.
It's the next step towards a longtime career ambition.
"I've been interested in sports psychology since I was in high school," Lee said. "We had to take a public speaking class and give an informative speech. I did mine on sports psychology and it was really interesting. I knew I wanted to study that, so deciding on psychology when I was an undergrad was pretty easy."
Working with K-State Director of Mental Wellness & Sport Psychology Anne Weese made it even easier.
Lee said she hopes to pursue a similar career path that will allow her to blend sports psychology with a focus on mental health. Weese is working right at that intersection in her role at K-State.
Even as an undergrad, Lee has found plenty of ways to apply her coursework outside the classroom.
"This last semester, I took a personality psych class," she said. "It was really cool to learn how personalities and my own personality develop and how our experiences shape that. With my close friends, their personalities are different from mine and that impacts how they make decisions."
Balancing a clinically focused program with her basketball career, Lee said she's been lucky to find classes where most of the bigger assignments are due in the spring.
That's because every winter in Manhattan, Lee is a little busy. During her redshirt sophomore season with the Wildcats, she averaged over 30 minutes a night while leading the team in points, rebounds and blocks.
Lee also battled through an ankle injury in non-conference play and a month-long pause to the season in January due to the team's COVID-19 protocol.
"Especially this past year with COVID-19 and all the extra challenges, being able to come together as a team and support each other, through whatever we were going through on the court or off the court, that's been huge," Lee said. "I think my background in psychology has definitely helped me out a little bit."
On top of all those challenges, Lee maintained a stellar GPA as she wrapped up her undergraduate degree. A recent Instagram post of Lee's desk at K-State - with her laptop open to a page about Task Switching in Schizophrenia - captured that tricky balancing act.
Above her desk, Lee keeps a collection of photos and notes from her time as a Wildcat.
"I have enough homework to last me a lifetime and I'm in my room instead of hanging out with my roommates," Lee wrote on Instagram. "Even though school is tough for everyone, my favorite part about sitting at my desk is looking up and seeing all the memories I've made with all the people I love. Regardless of what exhausting task I may be doing looking at all those pics makes me so happy and the task so worth it."
Lee is anticipating plenty of more challenges as she begins her postgraduate work, including lots of planning ahead with professors and coaches. The chance to experience her first normal offseason since her redshirt season in 2019 is also a bonus.
To graduate in three years, Lee has taken classes over the summer since arriving in Manhattan. Throw in COVID-19 last year, and summer hasn't been much of a break for the redshirt junior.
She had a chance to take some time off last month, but as many of her new teammates arrive on campus, Lee is back in Manhattan to start preparing for the 2021-22 season.
Just don't expect her to turn off that psych brain anytime soon.
"Mindset is really big in sports. That's probably the biggest thing I've noticed on this team. If your mindset isn't great, it probably isn't going to be a stellar practice," Lee said. "Stay mindful of your mindset and self-talk so we can go into every game feeling mentally prepared."
There are times, Ayoka Lee remembers, when her teammates catch her using her psych brain.
"Someone will just make a comment," she said. "And I'll be like, 'Oh yeah that makes complete sense because A + B = C.' And then I have to apologize if they just wanted to have a conversation."
That side of K-State's newest CoSIDA Academic All-American might be old news to her teammates, but it's easy to miss alongside Lee's many 2021 accolades.
The Ayoka Lee page on KStateSports.com is approaching the length of an undergrad thesis, which makes sense as the redshirt junior recently graduated from Kansas State in three years.
The Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2020, Lee followed it up with her second straight All-Big 12 season in 2021. Her player efficiency rating ranked third in the whole country.
Another All-American honor for @Yokie50, as she has been named to the 2020-21 @CoSIDAnews
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) May 28, 2021
Academic All-America Second Team.
She is the 8th player in program history to earn the honor.
Congrats Yokie!
📝 -> https://t.co/c1nWUauS1s pic.twitter.com/nCRl7QQUYL
Off the court, Lee was also accepted into the couple and family therapy master's program at K-State and will begin working towards her graduate degree in the fall.
It's the next step towards a longtime career ambition.
"I've been interested in sports psychology since I was in high school," Lee said. "We had to take a public speaking class and give an informative speech. I did mine on sports psychology and it was really interesting. I knew I wanted to study that, so deciding on psychology when I was an undergrad was pretty easy."
Working with K-State Director of Mental Wellness & Sport Psychology Anne Weese made it even easier.
Lee said she hopes to pursue a similar career path that will allow her to blend sports psychology with a focus on mental health. Weese is working right at that intersection in her role at K-State.
Even as an undergrad, Lee has found plenty of ways to apply her coursework outside the classroom.
"This last semester, I took a personality psych class," she said. "It was really cool to learn how personalities and my own personality develop and how our experiences shape that. With my close friends, their personalities are different from mine and that impacts how they make decisions."
Balancing a clinically focused program with her basketball career, Lee said she's been lucky to find classes where most of the bigger assignments are due in the spring.
That's because every winter in Manhattan, Lee is a little busy. During her redshirt sophomore season with the Wildcats, she averaged over 30 minutes a night while leading the team in points, rebounds and blocks.
Lee also battled through an ankle injury in non-conference play and a month-long pause to the season in January due to the team's COVID-19 protocol.
"Especially this past year with COVID-19 and all the extra challenges, being able to come together as a team and support each other, through whatever we were going through on the court or off the court, that's been huge," Lee said. "I think my background in psychology has definitely helped me out a little bit."
On top of all those challenges, Lee maintained a stellar GPA as she wrapped up her undergraduate degree. A recent Instagram post of Lee's desk at K-State - with her laptop open to a page about Task Switching in Schizophrenia - captured that tricky balancing act.
Above her desk, Lee keeps a collection of photos and notes from her time as a Wildcat.
"I have enough homework to last me a lifetime and I'm in my room instead of hanging out with my roommates," Lee wrote on Instagram. "Even though school is tough for everyone, my favorite part about sitting at my desk is looking up and seeing all the memories I've made with all the people I love. Regardless of what exhausting task I may be doing looking at all those pics makes me so happy and the task so worth it."
Lee is anticipating plenty of more challenges as she begins her postgraduate work, including lots of planning ahead with professors and coaches. The chance to experience her first normal offseason since her redshirt season in 2019 is also a bonus.
To graduate in three years, Lee has taken classes over the summer since arriving in Manhattan. Throw in COVID-19 last year, and summer hasn't been much of a break for the redshirt junior.
She had a chance to take some time off last month, but as many of her new teammates arrive on campus, Lee is back in Manhattan to start preparing for the 2021-22 season.
Just don't expect her to turn off that psych brain anytime soon.
"Mindset is really big in sports. That's probably the biggest thing I've noticed on this team. If your mindset isn't great, it probably isn't going to be a stellar practice," Lee said. "Stay mindful of your mindset and self-talk so we can go into every game feeling mentally prepared."
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