Teammates. Ryan Lee has plenty of them.
Prior to the week of Thanksgiving, Lee, the video coordinator for the UA womenβs basketball program, may not have known just how many people had his back.
He does now.
Lee will return to Los Angeles on Friday night when the Wildcats take on the No. 8-ranked Bruins for the first time since a harrowing stay in a hospital there last fall.
The Wildcats had just finished playing at Loyola Marymount and Lee was in the team hotel lobby, finishing his dinner and breaking down film of TCU, the Wildcatsβ next opponent. As he did, Lee felt like some food was stuck in his esophagus, so he drank some water. That seemed to do the trick β for a little while.
The pain came back about 30 minutes later. Lee tried to sleep, but was awakened by more pain. UA trainer Jessie Joseph met with Lee, and together they decided he should go to the emergency room. Tests performed early that morning showed that Lee had a tear in his esophagus. He was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Hospital around mid-afternoon.
Lee underwent an exploratory procedure βto see what kind of tear it was and how severe it was,β he said.
βItβs in the body, so you canβt monitor it like a cut on your hand,β Lee said. βSo you have to give it time and do a procedure to see how it is healing.β
Lee doesnβt remember a lot about his week and a half in the hospital, but he does remember talking with team manager Kevin Edwards and operations director Jessika Carrington. He also texted with Alexus Atchley, a graduate assistant.
βThey had to set up film for the tournament and film, TCU film, for the team to watch that morning at around 9:30 a.m.,β he said.
See, Lee wasnβt going to let his team down. And his team wasnβt going to let him down.
The managers took over while Lee remained hospitalized.
βKevin really stepped up,β Lee said. βHe made sure all the coaches had what they needed. He taught the other managers what to do when he had class, so that the team had everything they needed.
βKevin does whatever is asked of him. His entire time here, heβs helped with everything and balances it with his schoolwork and everything outside of basketball. Itβs not like I expected him to do this; but it didnβt surprise me.β
For Edwards, it was all part of his job as a manager. Edwards is quick to say βyes,β his co-workers say, even if thereβs not a clear path to success.
βThey expect a lot of us and we have that βnext-man-upβ mentality,β Edwards said. βWe have the best managing crew in the Pac-12, so we have to back it up. I have to give a shout out to Christian (Shepperd); weβve been working together for three years and our communication is so good. He knew exactly what to do; it was like clockwork. It wasnβt that big of a deal; it didnβt seem like it. We didnβt think twice.
βHis job is not easy. It was a lot of work, but nothing we havenβt tackled before. Even the coaches stepped up to take the burden off our backs and code themselves. I taught coach Salvo how to code. It was an all-around effort. Weβre a team; we are family. We are all here for each other.β
And what did the managers take on? They broke down film in different categories including playersβ minutes, possession results, out of bounds plays and ball screens β and fast. Managers broke the film down by player and offensive and defensive sets. Lee handled film exchange with other programs to help coaches scout the opponent.
βRyan is a huge part of our team,β Barnes said. βSometimes you donβt realize until someone is gone just how much you need them. Everyone chipped in, but it was hard.
βWe couldnβt do his job. He was only gone a couple of weeks, but it felt like a couple of months. At the end of the day, heβs family and I was more concerned about him being healthy.β
Lee was back in Tucson on a Monday afternoon and as soon as he landed he was back in the basketball offices ready to get back to it.
Lee is excited to go back to Los Angeles to see both his parents and former colleagues at UCLA. Lee handled video scouting reports for the Bruins for five years, and was there when the senior class that includes Jordin Canada, Kelli Hayes, and Monique Billings came in as freshmen.
The only remnants of his hospital visit were a restricted diet, a few lost pounds, and a hoarse voice. Of the diet, he said it was βnot a big deal as I am a picky eater and I donβt eat a lot of solid foods. It didnβt affect me like it wouldβve affected others.β
Doctors werenβt sure what caused the tear. Lee has put the entire experience behind him.
βI didnβt have any feelings about it; itβs just something that happened,β he said.
