Just Preps : Lee Is Making the Most of His Turn

On his way to the locker room to get ready for football practice, Fred Lee stops by his coaches’ office to pick up the college recruiting letters that arrived that day.

They are from Colorado, Nebraska and Arizona State. He puts them in his shirt pocket and wanders over to his locker.

“This is what I always dreamed about, but it’s happening so fast I haven’t had much time to think about it,” says Lee, a running back at Locke High. “This is my ticket to college and out of this neighborhood, and I don’t want to blow it.”

Locke, in South-Central Los Angeles, has turned out many top football players, including quarterback Darian Hagan, who went to Colorado, and running back Sirr Parker, a freshman at Texas A&M.;

Now it is Lee’s turn. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior is second in City Section rushing with 1,131 yards in 118 carries and has 16 touchdowns. His team is 6-1 overall, 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference, and certain to qualify for next month’s playoffs.

Because he backed up the highly touted Parker last season, few people knew much about Lee. Coach E.C. Robinson knew he had a talent on his hands and told Lee to be patient, that his chance would come.

“Good players like Fred want to have the ball in their hands every down, but when he’s backing up a preseason All-American there isn’t much I can do,” Robinson said. “I didn’t want him to go to another school, so I got him in as much as I could and told him he would be next.”

Last season was the most difficult in Robinson’s 16 years at the school. The Saints had to forfeit two games and finished 0-9 and out of the playoffs. Parker and Lee were two bright spots.

It has been different this season. Lee has assumed a leadership role and is faster and stronger than a year ago. He twice has rushed for more than 200 yards and is the key on an offense that is averaging 32 points a game.

Lee, 17, grew up in the area and started playing Pop Warner football in fourth grade. Football has been a way for him to avoid the elements of the neighborhood.

“Every time I walk home I see the gangs and the drugs and all the negative things around here,” Lee said. “But I just go in my house, lock the door and stay inside. I do my homework and watch TV. I think a lot of the gang members respect what I’m doing, and they leave me alone. They know it’s not what I’m about.”

Robinson said student-athletes, such as Lee, are why he stays on the job.

“I like helping kids pursue their options,” he said. “I want to help them get out of the neighborhood and be what they want to be. Fred knows there’s more out there and he’s very focused on that. And he’s smart enough to realize what he has to do.”

Lee’s parents are not married, and he has lived with his grandmother, Dessie Lee, for the past four years. His father, Fred Lee Sr., has watched a few games.

Robinson and his staff have helped to make sure Lee concentrates on his studies. He has a 2.8 grade-point average and recently took the Scholastic Assessment Test for the second time. He has not yet academically qualified for a college scholarship.

But Lee said he will not fall short of his goals.

“I want to go far away and make something of myself,” he said. “I sure couldn’t afford college on my own, so football will have to take me as far as it can. I’ll do the rest.”