Two Pillars of a Team with Championship Aspirations - Kansas State University Athletics (2024)

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Ayoka Lee still remembers getting the text. Kansas State women's basketball head coach Jeff Mittie sent a message to his star center in 2020. The Wildcats were pursuing the third-rated player in the state of Missouri, and Mittie was looking for an assist.

"Can you call Serena Sundell?" he texted Lee.

Lee, of course, obliged.

"So, we were talking on the phone," Lee recalls, "and she was really sweet. I had no idea she would be so impactful and as good as she's been. She seemed like a really sweet and kind girl, but she'll kill you out there."

Lee, a sixth-year senior and two-time All-American who set the NCAA Division I women's basketball record by scoring 61 points in game, is pretty deadly herself when fully healthy.

"It has been a lot of fun playing with her," Sundell says. "Just seeing her go through so much adversity, to have her back for another year, and just seeing her moving the way she's moving and feeling the game, to see her back out there comfortable again, it's exciting."

Together, the pair of seniors are typically head-and-shoulders above the competition.

Lee has been named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year while Sundell joined Lee on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, as announced by the league office.

"Man, it's an honor," Lee says of being named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year. Lee is the third K-State women's basketball player to earn such an honor, joining Nicole Ohlde (2002-03 and 2003-04) and Kendra Wecker (2004-05).

"The Big 12 has always been a tough conference and has always had really good players that have gone on to play professionally," Lee says. "It's a really big honor to be voted that in the preseason."

Two Pillars of a Team with Championship Aspirations - Kansas State University Athletics (1)

Last season, Lee scored 533 points and shot 61.9% from the floor while Sundell scored 411 points and shot 53.6%. They are the only set of teammates at a Power 4 and Big East member school to each score 400 points and shoot 50% from the floor last season and return to the same team in 2024-25.

"To have returning players, that doesn't happen as often as it used to, so to have two players who've been pillars of our program ever since they stepped onto campus, two talented athletes who are team-first players and have the ability individually to make a lot of plays, it's great for us and great for our fans as well," Mittie says. "You really have to appreciate that in today's college athletics.

"Certainly, they've been two of the best."

They're the leaders of the pack for a K-State team that has been picked as the Big 12 preseason favorite, by a vote of the league's coaches, for a powerhouse conference that figures to feature four preseason top-25 teams, including Iowa State, Baylor, West Virginia, and the Wildcats.

"I'm excited," Sundell says. "We're a little bit surprised (by the top spot), but it shows the roster we have this year, and the talent we have on this team, and that's been our goal, and we haven't shied away from it at all, that we want to win a Big 12 Championship.

"It's known in our locker room and on the court and behind the drills that we do and why we're doing it: We want to go win a championship. To see that other people believe in us is exciting."

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K-State returns two other key seniors in Jaelyn Glenn and Brylee Glenn, and it brings back emerging sophomore talents Zyanna Walker and Taryn Sides, while 6-foot-2 senior transfer Temira Poindexter could be a key addition for a squad that finished last season with a 26-8 record and earned a No. 4 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

The biggest key?

Lee, for the first time in a few years, feels 100% healthy.

"This is probably the first summer in a few years where I've been not in rehab and don't have to do other things than being with the team," Lee says. "It was really good to be involved with everything like weights and individuals."

Lee, a four-time All-Big 12 First Team selection, averaged 19.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.78 blocks last season.

"Yokie has certainly had a lot of accolades in her career," Mittie says. "There are a lot of great players in the league, but she's done so much in our league and for Kansas State that it's awesome for her to receive the preseason player-of-the-year recognition."

Hindered by a bothersome knee for parts of her career, Lee still ranks third in K-State history in career points (2,194) and owns school records in rebounds (1,118) and blocked shots (310).

"It's an honor to play with her," Sundell says. "She's deserving of (Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year). I think she's been deserving of it every year. Her presence on the floor, it's just night and day when she's on the court and when she isn't."

Sundell earned All-Big 12 First Team accolades last season after averaging 12.1 points to go along with a league-high 5.6 assists per game. Sundell is the first player in K-State history and the third Big 12 player since at least 2009-10 to record three seasons with 350 points and 150 assists. Her 549 career assists ranks fourth all-time in K-State history while she ranks second all-time with 5.3 assists per game.

"Serena is respected in the league and nationally," Mittie says. "Our league has gone through a lot of changes with four teams added this year and four teams added a year ago. Serena is a player that a lot of coaches have respected for a long time. She's done a lot in her career."

She is the only player in K-State history to record 1,000 points, 500 assists and 50 blocked shots.

"I was thinking about this today, and it's been really cool to see Serena develop as a point guard," Lee says. "Being here my freshman year, we had Kayla Goth in that position, and to see how Serena has developed has been so cool. She does a lot for our team in that role and has really grown as a leader. She's a go-getter. If something needs to get done, she's going to get it done.

"She brings so much to our team, probably more than she thinks."

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It won't be long until it's time for K-State to bring it.

The Wildcats play their lone exhibition game against Washburn on October 30 and then open the regular season against Green Bay on November 4. The non-conference schedule peaks with a November 25 meeting against Duke in the 2024 Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada. The Wildcats open their Big 12 season against Cincinnati in Manhattan.

"I can't believe it's October," Sundell says. "We play a basketball game this month. That's crazy. I can't believe it's our last true year. My four years here have just flown by. We're on our last October and our last non-conference season and just everything we're doing for the last time. We're trying to enjoy it as much as we can while also working hard and doing all the little things. We're just trying to find a balance.

"Time needs to slow down, in my opinion."

Time flies when you're having fun.

Two Pillars of a Team with Championship Aspirations - Kansas State University Athletics (2024)
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