NASHVILLE—Xaivian Lee turned the corner on Kentucky guard Jasper Johnson, worked through the ball screen, crossed it back, stepped back and let it fly. It’s the type of self creation that made Lee a hot commodity in the transfer portal and demonstrated the type of swagger that made Lee a social media star.
In this particular instance, though, the moment represented more than that. This was what Florida head coach Todd Golden called the dagger that clinched Florida’s 11th-consecutive win, an SEC Tournament Quarterfinal win that extended the Gators’ winning streak to 11 games. If it wasn’t Lee’s best moment of the season, it was one of the ones that will appear on his highlight tape once this is all said and done.
“That felt good,” Lee told Basket Under Review. “It was late shot clock. I kind of like those moments. I feel like shooting a grenade like that, it's kind of like a freebie. I feel confident in my shot in those moments.”
At his best, Lee is as flashy an off the bounce scorer as there is in the country and has the ability to take over a game. Perhaps it wasn’t there consistently at Florida’s Friday SEC Tournament opener, but it has been at times.
The Lee that made that clutch shot to all but seal this thing is the Lee that Florida always thought it was getting and thought was in there all along. Confident. Loose. Clutch. That was Princeton Xaivian Lee channeling his old greatness in a Florida uniform.
Perhaps it’s the version that Florida will continue to have the rest of the way, though.
“We know he can do that,” Florida forward Rueben Chinyelu told Basket Under Review. “So just seeing him stepping in there embracing the moment, is something that we know that he can do and that we just love seeing it for him. ”
For awhile there, it appears as if the version of Lee that appeared on the floor on Friday may not have been in there like this Florida staff hoped.
The Princeton transfer averaged 10.8 points per game on 26.8% shooting against power-five opponents in non-league play. He’s since turned a new leaf in league play and is shooting 41.6% from the field on his way to 11.6 points per game in league play.
Lee’s most jarring poor performances were a nine-point outing against Florida State in which he attempted 13 shots from the field, five-point showings against Miami and TCU as well as a four-point showing against Duke in a game in which he took 10 shots. He could feel the weight of the expectations, too.
“I wasn’t getting the results I wanted early on,” Lee said. “It just kind of messed with my mind a little bit, more than I should have let it.”
Prior to Lee’s breakout late non-conference stretch, he scored in double figures in just three of Florida’s eight early-season games. The lowest point of that stretch could easily be perceived as a scoreless outing against Merrimack in which Lee took six shots.
The stretch in which Lee struggled coincided with Florida’s 9-5 start and the Gators earning the label of college basketball’s most disappointing team. The transition between former Florida star guards Walter Clayton, Alijah Martin and Will Richard to the backcourt duo of Lee and Boogie Fland appeared to be drastic.
The patience was wearing thin, for everyone involved. Even if Lee deserved time, he wasn’t walking into a situation that granted him much.
The premise makes Lee laugh, but the reaction he demonstrates may say more about the truth of the matter than the comedic value of it.
Lee was asked about his thoughts on the idea that at one point in time—early in the season—he was the most heavily scrutinized player in college basketball. It’s an assertion that he’s lended credence to publicly before, but didn’t dish on all that much in the name of being politically correct.
The transition Lee was undergoing and the lack of results that came along with it immediately put him under the microscope. As a result, he was ridiculed.
“He was very criticized because he wasn’t shooting very well at all and he was a highly-regarded recruit,” Florida big man Micah Handlogten told Basket Under Review. “They didn’t feel like he was meeting expectations."
Lee had previously been a social media darling because of his flair and confidence. But those days were quickly over. The shine of all the favor that he’d earned previously had worn off. Say goodbye to the days of Lee’s Princeton highlights becoming internet fodder.
The Florida guard said he got to a point where he deleted all of his social media, downloaded Letterbox and started watching movies. If he didn’t, the things he was on the other end of may have crept into his mind and affected his play. Lee abandoned all 37,500 followers on Instagram to immerse himself in Silver Lining’s Playbook, Wolf of Wall Street and One Band After Another.
“I just did that so I didn’t have to see it,” Lee said. “I was playing better so it started to get better.”
As Lee listens to the question and thinks of how he plans to address it, Handlogten takes a second from his own postgame interview to glance at the Florida guard in an effort to hear his message spread.
Handlogten and Lee are roommates. As a result, Handlogten has had a front-row seat to the turbulent season that’s taken Lee on a ride that’s been unforgettable for a multitude of reasons. Handlogten appeared to know what was coming when Lee was asked about what advice his roommate was giving him in the downs of the season.
“He was like ‘shoot the ball when I pass it to you,’” Lee said. “That’s mostly it. I was like ‘alright.’” He always encouraged me and stuff. We spent a lot of time together.”
For all the negatives that Lee would hear in regard to his game and standing, Handlogten was a source of abundant optimism and confidence building. Now that Lee has found his footing, Handlogten attributes his roommate’s rise to his increasing level of confidence. As Lee knows, the Florida big man has always believed in his abilities. He wanted Lee to feel the same way.
Handlogten felt that it was only a matter of time before things turned based off of what he was seeing in practice from Lee, but he indicates that he knows what comes with failing to live up to high on-floor expectations.
While Lee was struggling to break through, Handlogten says the two would converse often about mentality and the endurance to push through difficult times.
What Handlogten saw within his roommate was far more nuanced than what the general public saw within him. The Florida big man knew that Lee would have it click and find more confidence once he found his role within Florida’s system–which relies heavily on its three-headed monster of big men. Lee had previously been used to playing outside in, but he needed to embrace playing inside out. These days, he’s passing Handlogten’s figurative benchmarks–and he’s shooting it when the Florida big man passes it to him.
“He finally figured out how to play in this offense,” Handlogten said. “He's kind of learning to play inside out. Like, go down, get downhill, get some layups, and then that’s going to open it up for him to shoot open 3s and stuff like that. I think that shows what kind of player he is. I think he's a great player. I think that he's always just growing in every aspect of the game. It's really good to see this.”
Between their time as high school teammates and this season, Florida wing Thomas Haugh has seen too much of Lee to hold his tongue for much longer.
Upon the insinuation that Lee may make this Florida offense significantly more dynamic when he’s got it going, Haugh had to bud in and affirm the insinuation.
“So much more [dynamic],” Haugh told Basket Under Review before the question was complete. “It changes a ton, man. He’s able to dish and he’s such a great passer and then able to hit a step back. When he’s hooping, our team’s hooping.”
Nobody within this Florida locker room–including Lee–appears to know exactly when this all flipped for the transfer guard, but their head coach has a theory. As Haugh hears it, he feels as if Golden is onto something.
Golden is of the thought that Lee’s 20-point outing in Florida’s road win at Vanderbilt was the start of the veteran guard turning this around for good. Lee was decidedly the difference in that game–which ended in a four-point Florida win–and was the best player on the floor at times. That was the version of Lee that hit the step back in Friday’s Florida win. Golden doesn’t believe that version of his guard is all that rare.
“He’s been really, really good all conference play, really,” Golden said after Florida’s Mar. 3 win over Mississippi State. “He’s playing fantastically well. And obviously him and Boogie emerging the way they have has allowed us to really take off and become a really good team.”
Perhaps Golden is onto something. Florida is 17-3 this season when Lee scores in double figures. Its two SEC losses came in games in which Lee went for just seven points and 11 points–on 10 shots–respectivley. Performances like that appear to be increasingly rare for the Florida guard, though.
Lee has scored in double figures in nine of Florida’s last 10 games, each of its last six games and seven of the last eight. The Princeton transfer is nationally ranked by KenPom in only assist rate and two-point percentage. He’s back to looking like Xaivian Lee again, though.
That means Florida’s ceiling is nearly unlimited.
“When X is having a great game,” Florida guard Isaiah Brown told Basket Under Review, “That means everybody else around him is also having a great game.”