NICKNAME/S: HJ

BIO: Lee Hyunjung was born in Seongnam (South Korea). There, he attended Samil Commercial School in Suwon, playing basketball under the coaching of his father.

In 2018, Lee enrolled at the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia.

In conjunction with the NBA Global Academy and the Centre of Excellence, playing alongside Hawks teammates Sam Froling, Dan Grida, and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk. He also attended Lake Ginninderra Secondary College, which is where he learned to speak English. Lee received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2019. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (2019).

FAMILY: Lee comes from a strong basketball pedigree with his mother, Seong Jeong-a part of South Korea’s silver medal-winning basketball team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Lee’s father, Lee Yun-Hwan, played semi-professionally during the same period and has been a leading high school coach since retiring in 1991. His older sister, Lee Ri-na, played for the South Korean under-16 national team.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Hyunjung Lee made his NBL debut with the Illawarra Hawks at 22 years of age. He scored four points in his first game.

After a glut of player injuries, Illawarra compiled their worst record in NBL history (3-25), the Hawks were looking for a fresh start in Jacob Jackomas‘ second year as head coach.

Thanks to Perth wanting to move on from veteran Todd Blanchfield, and being happy to cover part of his remaining contract, the Hawks were able to acquire him in a buy-out. With an eye towards the future, young talent Mason Peatling (via Melbourne), Biwali Bayles (via Sydney) and former Adelaide 36ers development player, Lachlan Olbrich (via NCAA) were signed.

At the same time, NBA prospect AJ Johnson was brought in under the NBL’s Next Stars Program and using the league’s ‘Asian player’ rule, Lee signed a three-year deal, becoming the first Asian player to ever play for Hawks.

“Elite perimeter shooting is a real difference maker in today’s game, and adding a player of Lee’s skill set provides Jacob and his coaching staff another likely option at the wing position.” said Hawks GM of Basketball Mat Campbell after signing Lee.

“Lee has aspirations of becoming only the second Korean-born player in the NBA, and we have no doubt the Hawks are the perfect platform for him to continue his improvement and ultimately find his way onto a NBA roster. As a club, we have followed Lee’s progress with real interest; we think he will be a great fit with our current group.”

Import Justin Robinson, who managed just one game before suffering a season-ending injury in 2022, returned to full health, and NBA veteran Gary Clark signed as the team’s third import. Long-serving import Tyler Harvey, captain Sam Froling and guards Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, William “Davo” Hickey and Daniel Grida returned as the Hawk’s core group.

Illawarra showed promising signs during the pre-season, but once the regular season got underway, Illawarra seemed to revert to its old ways, continuing to produce disappointing losses.

Despite solid performances on the court from the likes of Clark (17 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), Froling (15.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists) and Harvey (15.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 steals), Illawarra struggled to find its foot early in the season. Hyun-Jung and Peatling began the year under an injury cloud.

By October, the Hawks were sitting at 2-4 with wins against South East Melbourne and Cairns. Illawarra suffered two more brutal defeats in the next month against Sydney and Cairns, which resulted in the team and Jackomas parting ways. Whilst the Hawks looked for a replacement, assistant Justin Tatum stepped up as interim coach.

Once Tatum arrived, they were able to turn things around and won four of their next six games. A knee sidelined Grida (5.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.4 assists) after ten games, but thanks to the emergence of Will Hickey (5.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) and the signing of former South East Melbourne guard Kyle Adnam as an injury replacement, the Hawks continued to their winning form without missing a beat.

Despite the challenges, the Hawks continued to deliver wins under Tatum, and a late-season charge saw Illawarra finish the regular season in fourth place (14-14).

Illawarra saw a massive improvement in scoring. In the 2022/23 season, the Hawks ranked last for average points with 80.8 points per game. However, this season, they increased their offensive output to 91.6 points per game, enough to finish fourth in the league.

After making the play-in tournament, Illawarra would lose to Tasmania (92-76) in the opening game but turned things around to defeat New Zealand in a nailbiter (88-85), which earned them a spot in the semi-finals against Melbourne.

In game one, despite a solid first half by the Hawks, United would make a dramatic comeback, forcing the game into overtime and won the opening game 115-106.

Illawarra levelled the series, pushing it to a decider after defeating United in a thriller by five points. However, the Hawk’s dream run came up short, missing a Grand Final berth by six points.

Clark would deliver several big-time offensive performances, including his season-high 38 points against Cairns, which saw him voted as the Hawk’s Club MVP and be selected to the All-NBL First Team.

Lee would impress during his rookie season, appearing in 32 games and averaging 7.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists.

Hyunjung Lee currently plays for the Illawarra Hawks and has played 37 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 7.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists since entering the league in 2023.

Dan Boyce (815 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.