National : WKU’s Lee playing for late teammate
The news came around 5 a.m.
A friend had called Western Kentucky guard-forward Courtney Lee earlier in the day and told him he heard something, but wasn’t sure what it was. But later that night, WKU head coach Darrin Horn called with the tragic news. Lee was heartbroken.
His best friend and teammate Danny Rumph died after suffering a heart attack during a pickup basketball game in Philadelphia.
‘That was the night for all of us,’ said Courtney’s mother, Teer Butler. ‘He was like ‘No, not my brother, no, no.’ And then the morning came, and Coach Horn and everybody came to our house and everything to make sure Courtney was all right and everything. I mean he was really hurt. We were in disbelief.’
Lee and Rumph had become best of friends during their time together at WKU, and Rumph was instrumental in keeping Lee from transferring from the university, as Lee was not comfortable there early on.
Three seasons later, Lee averages 20.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for the 23-6 Hilltoppers and is trying to lead them to their first NCAA Tournament since 2003. He is only the third player in the history of the school to score more than 2,000 points.
‘I dedicate all my success to him because without him, I don’t even think I would be here and be the player that I am and accomplished all the things I’ve accomplished without his guidance early on in my career,’ Lee said.
Without Rumph, it might have never happened. Lee, now a senior, did not feel familiar with his new environment as a freshman and felt homesick.
Rumph, then a junior, took Lee under his wing and helped the freshman adjust to his new home, showing him places where he could relax and have fun. The two became like brothers and were inseparable.
‘When I got here, I had thoughts of transferring, and he definitely washed those thoughts away,’ Lee said. ‘Without having an example like that to follow, I don’t think I would be in the situation I am now.’
A native of Indianapolis, Lee went to Western Kentucky early in the summer for summer school before his freshman year and had a hard time adjusting. Lee’s stepfather, Robert Butler, said his stepson did not like it there and felt isolated because there were so few students there, but with the help of Rumph, started to become more comfortable. Butler said the phone calls to the house started coming less and less often.
Lee said Rumph showed him his work ethic and found places where Lee could ease his mind. He also said Rumph introduced him to many good people. The duo became best of friends.
‘They did pretty much everything together,’ senior teammate Ty Rogers said. ‘Danny was more or less like a mentor to him. As a freshman when you come in you always attach to somebody. There’s always an older guy that kind of helps you out, and there was no doubt that Danny was the guy for Courtney and helped him in so many different ways.’
The friendship between the two blossomed. The roommates did everything together. But the time the two knew each other was short-lived.
A native of Philadelphia, Rumph died of a heart attack during a pickup game in his hometown. Lee remembers telling Rumph to be safe and giving him a hug before they departed for the summer break, and the excitement on Rumph’s face as he was heading home.
Rumph not only touched Lee, but his parents as well. Robert Butler said Rumph would come to their house in Indiana during some of the breaks. Teer Butler said how you would have thought Rumph was her son’s older brother the way he looked up to him and really appreciates how he helped keep her son from transferring.
‘(Danny) was a very well-mannered kid,’ Teer Butler said. ‘Courtney and Danny became really close in that short period he was here, and I really appreciate that about Danny because if Danny hadn’t been there, I really don’t know if (Courtney) would’ve stayed.’
One way in which Lee honored his teammate and best friend was with a tattoo. Lee and then-teammates Elgrace Wilborn and Anthony Winchester took part in the tattoos. That tattoo on Lee’s right arm is of a person holding a basketball and wearing a No. 11 basketball jersey, accompanied by the words ‘In memory of Danny Rumph.’
Lee chose his right arm because he felt that Rumph took him under his wings, and he was his right-hand man.
‘It would be just like if you had a brother,’ Lee said. ‘He came and took me under his wing and showed me a lot of things. I mean he was an amazing person, a good leader and the type of person that would give you his shirt off his back.’
Now, as a senior on a WKU squad that is tied for first place in the Sun Belt Conference East Division along with South Alabama, Lee hopes to honor his friend in one last way: with an NCAA tournament berth.
The Hilltoppers have been 20-game winners each of the past three seasons, but have yet to make it to the Big Dance. The most convenient way would be to win the conference, and in doing so, give Lee another way honor the man who helped keep Lee at the university.
‘If we are able to get there, it would be a special moment,’ Lee said. ‘Not just for me, but for the team and the program. For my personal reasons, I know I dedicate the season to him, and if I went out to the fullest and went out with a bang for him, that would definitely be special for me.’
At the beginning of the season, the Pacific-10 was considered as one of the top, if not the best conference in men’s basketball. Yet, the conference only has three teams in the AP top 25 poll.
Teams such as Southern California, Arizona State and Arizona are no locks for the tournament, and California, Washington and Oregon are almost all not going dancing, despite tremendous promise at the beginning of the season.
With the major conferences all receiving the attention now, here is a list of games for the enthusiast that cares about conferences most likely receiving one bid. Each game will have a big influence on the top seeds for league play.
MAAC – Niagara at Siena (Friday, 7 p.m.)
NEC – Robert Morris at Sacred Heart (Tonight, 7 p.m.)
Big West – CSU Northridge at CSU Fullerton (Tonight, 10:05 p.m.)
WCC – No. 25 St. Mary’s at No. 24 Gonzaga (Saturday, 8 p.m.)
WAC – New Mexico State at Nevada (Tonight, 10:05 p.m.)
Published on February 27, 2008 at 12:00 pm
