When you walk into the gym for a Dallas County High School basketball game, one of the first players you notice is 6’8, 200 pound sophomore William Lee.

With his dominating rebounding, shot blocking, and slam dunks that fired up crowds from Plantersville to Montgomery, Lee’s motivation is a will to win for his teammates and his love for the momentum and tempo of the game.

“I love the momentum (of the game). I just go out there, go hard and play for the team,” Lee said. “I just want to play hard so we can win. Everybody wants to win. Don’t nobody love to lose.”

Lee’s job as the man in the middle for the Hornets helped lead them to the Central Regional Tournament in Montgomery, as well as made him 2nd Team All-State for the Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 4A team.

Hornets head basketball coach Willie Moore said Lee can do a little bit of everything out on the court.

“I think one of his strengths is his work ethic. He’s never satisfied, so that’s good,” Moore said. “He can do a combination of things. He can handle the ball well, he can shoot the three, but we don’t allow him to shoot the three because we need him to play inside because that’s a strength of his. He blocks shots. He blocked a lot of shots this year.”

Moore said Lee averaged a triple-double on the year, including 16.6 points a game and 16.2 rebounds a game, while routinely recording double-digit blocks.

Moore said it’s that set of dominating skills that will pave the way for Lee to have a bright future.

“William’s an outstanding player,” Moore said. “He’s a good kid and he doesn’t have an ego. He’s got unbelievable skill; he’s got a lot of talent. The future’s going to be very bright for him.”

That future, Moore said, is already starting to materialize, as Lee has already drawn the attention of Division I programs around the country.

“He’s a big-time prospect, he’s already got offers from SEC schools and ACC schools, so his development is going to be key,” Moore said. “The key part about him is that he’s a low maintenance guy. He doesn’t think the team revolves around him and we’re steadily trying to learn how to play with him and how we can best utilize him. Our players are slowly learning how best to play alongside him, but he’s, no question, one of the best players around here.”

Moore said he hopes to see Lee keep developing as a player, as there are still areas of his game to improve upon, and while Lee doesn’t have an ego, Moore would like him to develop more of an edge for the sake of the Hornets’ success.

“He needs to be more demanding on his teammates as far as calling for the basketball,” Moore said. “We want him to take the big shot.”

For Lee, he knows what’s expected of him, and when he looks to the future, he looks from a long-term perspective.

“I just have to keep my mindset, focus on playing hard,” Lee said. “My long term goal is to make it to the NBA one day and make millions.”