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Grit.org Podcast Episode 45 - Lee Humphrey

Updated: Oct 4

In this episode, we interview Lee Humphrey who was a three point shooting sensation and 2-time National Champion at University of Florida.  We talk about his high school career, getting recruited by University of Florida and other top basketball schools, playing for back to back titles at UF, inside stories on Coach Billy Donovan and Al Horford, playing basketball in Europe and the G League, and his life know as a parent and coach of 3 boys and his current sales professional career with Pontoon.


Let us know in the comments your favorite part of the episode. Enjoy!




Intro: Welcome to the grit.org Podcast with Colby Harris and Brian Harbin!

In these episodes, they speak to top achievers in athletics and business to understand the habits and mindset they apply in order to build more grit.

[I can. I can. I will. I will. I'm going to. I'm going to.]

Brian Harbin: Well, hello! Welcome to the grit.org podcast. I'm one of your hosts today, Brian Harbin. 

And today our other co-host is Kevin Butler, two summer Grit university intern that's now in the real world and been working his first full time career job, ironically enough, with pontoon, with Lee Humphrey here, who is our guest for today. 

Super excited about having Lee in here and a little bit about Lee Humphrey. So gotten to know Lee's married to Chelsea. They have three boys. And, you know, Lee was a two time national champion at University of Florida. And so a lot of you guys might know him from that. But a couple interesting facts about Lee, you know, playing basketball at University of Florida, he was the second, only the second player to be named the first team all academic for University of Florida. Two time national champion at University of Florida. 

Record holder for the most threes ever hit during NCAA tournament. He set both the season and career records at Florida for three point field goals, making 113 in back to back seasons, in 288 in his college career. Works full time now with Pontoon, which we'll get into a little bit later on. But Lee, welcome. Welcome to the show!

Lee Humphrey: Thanks, Brian! Pleasure to be on! Thanks for having me!

Brian Harbin: Absolutely. And Kevin, you want to give a shout out as well?

Kevin Butler: Yeah, shout out, Lee. We working together. It's been a fun time so far. We'll get it more into pontoon, what we do, but it's been a blast working with you.

Lee Humphrey: Yeah. Glad you're on the team.

Brian Harbin: And this is a really cool full circle moment because when Kevin was a good university intern, we actually played a morning basketball game that Lee plays in each week. It's a group of all guys that played college basketball, and back then, you guys played against each other. 

And then when Kevin was looking for a career job, you know, as the world would have it, you guys end up working together, which is really, really cool. So it's really neat to have both you guys in here together. So let's dive right in. 

So, grew up in Maryville, Tennessee. You know, parents, sister, tell us about life growing up, what it was like with your parents. Any specific kind of principles that you had growing up in Maryville, Tennessee?

Lee Humphrey: Yeah, sure. So Maryville, it's right outside of Knoxville. So first off, I grew up a big Tennessee fan, 20 minutes from UT campus, went to all their games, so we'll get into recruiting later. I think you had a question there, but I always like to mention that because started out of all fan, but fully converted to Gators, obviously, but my, it's a small town, about 2020, 5000 people, maybe a little smaller. When I was growing up, both my parents worked in education. Dad was a teacher, mom worked for the school. 

I was fortunate because I had a key to the gym, so I get in every night to shoot some hoops. Younger sister about three years younger. And I think, you know, it was a great childhood. Parents were super involved. I spent a ton of time with my dad. My summers were spent basically in the basketball gym on the lake, water skiing and at night, shooting with my dad super late at night or running on the track. 

So, you know, most of my time spent with them, they taught me so many things. I think some key ones, work ethic. I've got some funny stories about, you know, respect, you know, respecting folks who are in leadership. Also too, on the basketball court when I was young, I like to throw tantrums for officiating and calls and so forth, and kind of got the European way of throwing up my arms when I was 5th or 6th grade, and dad had to reprimand me there. I used to get frustrated in the gym, too, if I wasn't making my shots or playing that well. So my dad had to talk to me about kind of my temper, you know, trying to get better. So a lot of things that my parents taught me.

Brian Harbin: What do you think helped with that in terms of kind of overcoming the temper tantrums?

Lee Humphrey: I think, you know, my dad is one of the most patient guys that I know. He's a middle school teacher. You got to have a ton of patience to be a teacher. And I think he just talked me through it and just helped me deal with kind of frustration, just learning that it takes time to become good at something. You want to be good at something, you got to put a ton of work into it and it takes time and nothing's just going to happen right away.

Brian Harbin: Absolutely.

Kevin Butler: Yeah. It's funny that I never knew that about you, but I have a very similar background. My dad worked at Landrum Middle school here in Ponte Vedra for, I mean, he's approaching 15 years, 16 years. But yes, I can attest to always having a key to the gym being a luxury in life that not many people get to have. So what other sports did you play growing up besides basketball?

Lee Humphrey: So I played. I love sports. I did anything with the ball, really, but played baseball, played football, played football up through middle school, was a quarterback, defensive back, was on every team, you know, punt return team, kickoff team, whatever it was, played every snap of a football game. There just wasn't enough games in football. Couldn't deal with all the practices. The practice to game ratio is too heavily weighted towards practice.

Kevin Butler: Not enough patience.

Lee Humphrey: 

Not enough patience. I also love to water ski, so I spent my summers water skiing, as I mentioned, like to slalom, learn to barefoot skis. So barefoot. My kids always ask me, can you show us? I said, I think I'm too old. Don't get hurt.

Kevin Butler: So when did you know that basketball was the choice?

Lee Humphrey: Well, I always liked basketball the best. I wanted to be Pete Marovich. I grew up watching Pete Marovich basketball videos, the documentary of him as a kid. So I just stream about that. Michael Jordan was my favorite basketball player. Like every kid growing up in the early 90s, thought I was going to be Michael Jordan, turned out to be more like Steve Kerr, but wanted to be Jordan. So I was just always better at basketball, too. That was my best board.

Brian Harbin: And so in high school, you went all in on basketball. Tell spot that decision to, to kind of commit to basketball full time.

Lee Humphrey: Well, I was, I had a lot of success in middle school. I could tell it means pretty obvious basketball was my best sport. I wanted to play in college. I had the most fun playing basketball. I didn't particularly like football that much, so it wasn't that hard of a decision to give up football. I know, Kevin, you're a football guy.

Kevin Butler: So I know my heart sank a little bit. I was like, wow, dang, that hurts.

Lee Humphrey: Basketball is just, you know, it's not quite as hot. You can get out and play anytime you want. So liked basketball was playing on a pretty good AU team. I had a chance to play in some big tournaments and just kind of went that route.

Brian Harbin: And you were point guard?

Lee Humphrey: I was a point guard in high school. I started out my freshman sophomore years. I was more of a two guard junior, senior year, played the point, didn't play the point that much in college. Kind of would relieve our point guard for five or six minutes a game. But, yeah, I was point guard in high school, and then I shot the ball so well, I kind of moved over to the two.

Brian Harbin: And I'm sure the experiences quarterback helped you, you know, win playing point as basketball. Some spill over there, I'm sure, but thinking back on high school, any specific games or moments you feel like really stood out for you that were kind of, you felt like you're, you went to the next level or any standout performance or moment from high school basketball, there's a lot.

Lee Humphrey: So I loved our high school team. We had a ton of fun. We had a lot of success. We were never able to win a state championship or anything, but we won a ton of games. So a few things kind of stick out. My sophomore year, we lost six games by less than three points. And so it felt like every close game we were losing, and then the next year we learned from that and we were, I think we were 28 and 3. We only lost three games on the season and it felt like we were winning every close game. 

So I always look back at that as like, it takes time to learn how to win and kind of to mature as a team and how to execute in crunch time. So I thought that was big. We had some fun games, too. We had a game on the road against our biggest rival, who is also a really good team. We were down 18 points in the fourth quarter and we came back and won. I think I scored 11 points in like 8 seconds. It was like just, you know, we're in the press Tracy McGrady moment on a much, much smaller scale. 

But we won the region tournament and we had a bunch of guys on the team my senior year who kind of stepped up and I played more of a point guard role, didn't lead the team in scoring in that tournament. So that was a lot of fun. 

But, yeah, we got a ton of, actually, my best memories probably are playing pickup with the guys, going to the gym, playing two on two, three on three at like 11:00 at night on a Friday night. That was a lot of fun.

Kevin Butler: Yeah. So I guess the evolution of that is when did you start getting recruited? Was there like a big moment, a big game that you felt pressure because there were recruiters there? Tell me about that.

Lee Humphrey: So there is one specific moment that I think turned my recruiting, and I'll tell that, but the AU team I was playing for was really just kind of put together to help guys get scholarships. So we would go travel in the summer and we play events and college coaches would be there. So it was always kind of a first time. I could see it. You go to a game and there'd be like 100 college coaches at the game. 

Basically all the top universities would be there. So that was an eye opening moment, but really, and I started to get recruited from that. I got letters and, you know, interest from all kinds of schools, but what really made the difference was our coach knew he was connected. He had a lot of big time players that came to his program. 

So Florida was playing at Tennessee on a road game, and they were recruiting a guy on our – Florida was recruiting a guy that was a couple years older than me. And so my AAU coach called Coach Staunov and said, I got this guy. He's like 20 minutes from UT campus. Do me a favor and go watch him practice. I think you'll love him like he's being recruited, but, you know, you guys will be in the lead. 

And so he came and watched the practice. It was our best practice I think we had in my four years of high school. Everyone was super pumped. Coach Donovan wasn't there, but it was his two main assistants. And I don't think I missed a shot, like, the whole practice. So it was like, good timing. It was good timing kind of fate. Florida started recruiting me from that point on, and Florida was kind of my clear leader the whole time.

Kevin Butler: No any other contenders.

Lee Humphrey: Marquette was number two. They had Dwayne Wade and Travis Diener at the time. They made their final four run. And their kind of pitch was to position me as kind of Travis Diener type role. Scoring point guard. Marquette I didn't want to go to the. I didn't want to go up north. I wanted to stay in the south. I was sec guy.

Brian Harbin: So was that your senior year then?

Lee Humphrey: That was. I signed. That was all, like my sophomore, junior year. I signed on signing day my senior year. Yeah, in the fall.

Brian Harbin: And that's amazing, too, because obviously when you have two coaches like that showing up for practice that you know, they're watching you like, hey, this is the most important practice of your life, pretty much. And being able to perform at your best when you need to. And like you said, all those close games probably help with that. Anything you felt like that helped you in those moments when, like, you needed to step up or hit a shot, like, what do you think kind of helped you in those moments, at that age, at least?

Lee Humphrey: Yeah, I think I really feel like enthusiasm and confidence are huge. So, like, going into that practice, I just remember the whole team was fired up because we've got coaches coming in. It's a good opportunity, like, kind of elevated the attitude of the whole team, which I also think helps me play at kind of a higher level than I probably do on average. 

So I just think the people that are around you, if they're instilling confidence in you, if they're enthusiastic and confident, then that helps to kind of raise the level of everyone.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. And then obviously going to Florida. So tell us about, you know, what that transition was like going from high school basketball to, you know, playing with some of the best guys in the nation.

Lee Humphrey: It was an eye opening experience. I mean, every high school player goes through this, but unless you're like the top of the top, you're going to be the best player on your high school team, and then you're not going to be once you go and to college and you start your freshman year and you've got to kind of earn your chops and work your way in there. 

And I was, I mean, my attitude was, I was just really thankful to be there. It's probably a higher level than I expected to play when I was in high school, and I wanted to go play for the best team that I could. That's why I went to Florida. In my mind, Kentucky was number one, kind of as a basketball program. Florida was number two at the time. And that was, I mean, that was a huge challenge. 

So I just went in and said, and I'm going to work every day, do the best that I can, compete, and try to win every possession in practice and kind of see what happens. And I could tell from my freshman year that I was going to have a chance. Coach Donovan, the way he approached it, I mean, he really made you earn your playing time. So it took me some time my freshman year to where I would earn some playing time, but I could tell through practice that I would have a chance to get out there.

Brian Harbin: And, Kevin, you can relate to that. You know, going as a high school kid to division one.

Kevin Butler: Oh, yeah, it's a culture shock. It's like you're, you know exactly what Lee's saying. You're at the top of the totem pole. You're the man. You're the hero of your basketball team, football team, and then you're just back to square one. Like, you just start over. And it's, I feel like a lot of athletes struggle with that because it's almost the death of the ego that's built up and how they see themselves. 

And you see a lot of guys nowadays transferring or instead of buying into a program, you know, buying into the process of a four year school, they just saying my talents would be better used somewhere else. Someone else is going to buy into how I view myself.

Brian Harbin: So, Lee, I'm curious, you know, going into a high profile basketball team like that, coming in as a freshman. How do you strike that balance of, like, going all in to prove to the coach at the same time, you know, other players, like, oh, you know, they might view as like a try hard or going above and beyond, but how do you kind of strike that balance of, like, doing what you have to do to get playing time at the same time building that relationship with other players on the team and building respect there as well?

Lee Humphrey: Yeah, it's, I mean, I think the other players actually respect you more whenever they see how hard you're working. So especially if you're, you know, if you've got a quality team that's like, everyone is really given a ton of effort. And that was the case for us. I mean, it wasn't, it was, you could do extra, but it's hard because everyone is doing so much.

So I think, and they expect you to compete. So we had some really good, I played with, I think, ten guys, nine or ten guys who played in the NBA over my four years at Florida. So my first two years, even though we didn't win the championship, we had some awesome players. So, you know, they expected us to compete and work. 

And I think it's also too kind of balancing out and kind of knowing where you fit within the team. Like, if you kind of come in and try to do a bunch of stuff that you're not, it's not really your strength and you're hurting the team, then that's going to hurt, you know, it's going to hurt those relationships. And if, but if you're playing your part on the team and you're competing and working hard every day, they see that. And I think it helps to, you know, kind of build that camaraderie.

Brian Harbin: Tell us where you felt like you started to see that transition flip from getting a couple minutes playing time to, okay, I'm going to be a regular player/starter. Like, when did you feel that transition happen?

Lee Humphrey: So it was, I can, I can pick out a moment in the season. My freshman year, my first probably. I mean, up until December of my freshman year, I don't think I hardly played minutes. I mean, I played a few games here where we were crushing teams and I thought I was practicing really well and kind of had earned some chances to play. 

I finally got a chance to play the game before Christmas my freshman year. It was against Jose Berea's team who played for the Dallas Mavericks. He was in northeastern, and I got in and I think I was three for three or three for four from the three point line I took my open shots. There's kind of a joke. It's like just give Lee four shots. 

My freshman year I shot the ball really well and I wasn't, I didn't have that many attempts. I would just take the wide open ones and then on defense I was, you know, I was playing and I think I took a couple charges in that game and from that point on I would get a few more minutes each game and then we had a guy who left the team to go play for Real Madrid in Barcelona or, no, for Barcelona, I think it was. I think he went to play for Barcelona in the Euroleague and I was starting in his spot once he left.

Kevin Butler: Yeah. I want to touch back on something we talked about before we get into that first title year. I found in my experience that having a camaraderie is great for a team, but what really helps a team truly bond is having sort of some mentorship. So do you feel like you had any mentors coming in as a freshman at UF?

Lee Humphrey: So some guys, I think, like Matt Walsh was an older guy. He was a great player. I mean, I remember him giving me tips and like, kind of coached me. David Lee also, too. I roomed with him on the road. We didn't really have like these formal, established mentorships, but we had older guys on the team who could, you know, they could kind of share their experience and how that was when they were younger and give some advice, so. And they could lead the way, too. I mean, they could show what a practice was supposed to look like. I think that's all part of mentorship as well. 

And then coach Donovan was great. He, I think he, he obviously knows basketball, but his biggest strength, I think, is finding how to motivate people, kind of how to inspire them, showing weakness or, you know, showing them where some weaknesses are, how to either overcome them or, you know, do something else so that they're not exposed in that area. He's really great at that.

Brian Harbin: What would be, like an example of something that coach Donovan would say to you individually, you know, either practice or during a game that you felt like would help you?

Lee Humphrey: So he was coach for me, giving me confidence was big. So he would tell me if you've got a. I mean, he would want me to shoot it if I had a green light at all. Kind of my natural inclination was not to be as agreed aggressive as I needed to be to help the team. 

So he would talk to me about that. He would also talk to me about, you know, working myself into the game like I remember going through some video sessions, talking about my first shot in the game, like, don't make it 5ft behind the line, you know, trying to get a better one. 

And then, you know, I think that was the biggest thing was really just the confidence piece and, like, saying, hey, we need. This is your role in the team. You got to understand it. Like, we need you to do this.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. So tell us about that, that first title year. You're a junior, right? I mean, was there something at the beginning of the season or was there a point that you guys knew, like, all right, this could be the year. Was there a different energy or vibe or, tell us about kind of that year.

Lee Humphrey: Yeah. So there was a different vibe. I mean, we were not supposed to be very good. I don't know. We were probably not even picked to make the Inc. Tournament. We lost, like 70% of our scoring. David Lee, Matt Walsh, Anthony Roberson were all conference players. 

And I just remember my freshman sophomore year, we would play pickup against the older guys, and it would usually be the four, like Al Horford, Cory Brewer, Toy and Green. Myself, Joe Kim, Noah would be kind of the five. So they ended up being our starting group on the national championship team. And then we would play the older guys and we could always compete. 

You know, we could win some games against them as when we were younger playing pickups. So we. We had confidence from that. We didn't really play that unit because, you know, our older guys were so good those first two years, but we had confidence from that going into our junior year. 

And I remember we came back from a team mill at coach Donovan's house, and I had an old jeep. It was the car that I learned to drive on. It was actually the car my dad learned to drive on. It was 1967 jeep three speed. The stick was like, you know, like a bus. You know, the shifter was like a bus stick coming out of the floor. No power steering. 

We had the top off, and we were driving back and we had, you know, Al and Corey. Those guys are too tall to sit in the backseat, so they had to sit on top of the seat, like, hold on to the crossbar. And then we just were talking. We were like, man, we're going to be good this year. Like, we didn't know how good we were going to be, but there was like, kind of this quiet, quiet confidence on the team that this is kind of our time and we're going to go out there and we're going to be. We're going to. We're going to surprise people.

Brian Harbin: And it's so funny to hear that. Cause it's like, you know, all great teams, it's like, you know, all the hype and everything else, but, like, when you believe it, you know, at the core of the team, that's what, you know, that's the fire and the spark you need. So, going through the NCAA tournament, any standout moments for you, you know, leading up to that championship game?

Lee Humphrey: So going. And you're talking about the first championship, right. I'm trying to think there was. I mean, we. That. Going into that year, we won the priesthood in it, in Madison Square Garden, and we were crushing. I mean, we didn't play great competition before that, but we were winning big. And then we beat Syracuse in Madison Square Garden. 

So I think once we won that preseason nit, that was like, it validated our confidence. Okay. We really are good. We won 18 games in a row to start the season. We hit a rough patch, a rough spot in conference play. We may have lost three straight or three or four weren't playing well, but once insula tournament time came around, we were just super confident and we kind of rolled through the tournament and we won pretty easily in the finals. 

I just remember the one piece that sticks out to me more so than actual games is after we beat Villanova, who was number one seed overall. Coach Donovan had us, like, kind of the guys going out to the press conference and he's like, guys, we got a chance to do something really special. 

This was in the elite eight, and I always kind of felt. Looked back on that as, like, foreshadowing of the two championships, because the way he said it was like, oh, not special. Not in the sense like, hey, you're going to make the final four, but, like, we're going to do something more than just win the final four. We went on to win the back to back championship. So I think that moment is always what sticks out the most to me.

Brian Harbin: Interesting kind of planting that seed, right?

Lee Humphrey: Yeah, it was planting that seed. Yeah, exactly.

Brian Harbin: I wanted to jump into. Okay, so, obviously, winning a national champ, a probably greatest feeling of your life. Anything that you. Anything thinking back on that moment with the team or afterward that you feel like, you know, winning your first title, it's just surreal.

Lee Humphrey: Whenever the confetti starts coming down, it's like we had the game under control. So there was no. I mean, the last five minutes of the game, we pretty much knew we were winning, especially the last minute. Like, there wasn't this intense moment where you know, you win and just, like, relief. It's like we were dominating. We knew we were gonna win. So it was kind of surreal. 

You could look over into the stands, I could see my parents, and just like, how we're gonna win the championship. I just remember kind of that build up, and then when the confetti comes down, it's just like, hardly even remember.

Brian Harbin: Wow!

Kevin Butler: So what was the hardest game in the tournament?

Lee Humphrey: The hardest game. So our. So we did play tie game against Georgetown. We led a lot of the way. This was sweet 16. They took the lead, I think, in the last minutes. Cory Brewer hit a crazy shot that kind of sealed it for us. They actually had a chance to tie at the end. The guy missed the shot. The game wasn't that close all the way throughout, but they hung around to the end, and it ended up being really close in the last minute. So we could have lost that game. Outside of that, though, I don't think we had a game probably within ten points.

Brian Harbin: And then when you guys come back for the next season, I remember when the three guys made the decision. I remember seeing that video where they made the decision and, you know, the school goes crazy, and you guys had kind of a rough start, too. I mean, and I've heard you talk about this game against Alabama being a really turning point. So tell us about that story and the locker room and paint that picture against the game against Alabama.

Lee Humphrey: Yeah. So this kind of goes back to my point earlier with coach Donovan and confidence. But we were playing at Alabama, and I was coming off a shoulder injury. I separated my shoulder on a bicycle. I used to also like to ride a lot of bikes. I'd go ride around to my buddy's house, like, let's go ride. Take some Fisher poles out and go, you know, fish or, like, ride in the woods, and we'd be gone for 4 or 5 hours at a time. 

And I came off a bike injury, and I remember all the guys giving me a hard time. I fell off your bike. I mean, it is kind of comical when you think about it. I was riding around campus, and I didn't play well for probably four or five games after that. 

And so finally we were playing at Alabama. They played a zone defense, try to take away our big guys. You know, some. Some teams would take away the three, some would take away the inside. And I was getting a bunch of a good shots against this zone, and I think I was probably over seven or one for seven in the first half, half. And I probably should have been one for twelve. Coach diamond felt like I passed up some open shots even though I wasn't shooting him very well and it was hurting the team.

 So, I mean, he ripped me pretty good at halftime. Basically, his message was, if you pass up another three, I'm not playing you again. So then all the guys, you know, after that are like, come on, we don't care if you miss, just shoot it. Like you're the best shooter in the country. Just shoot it. And I came out and I hit four threes in the first. Before the first media time out, we ended up losing. It was close. That was a turning point for me to kind of get back on track.

Brian Harbin: Yeah, that's incredible. And you ripped the net at one point. I remember there was like an eleven minute delay after you ripped a three and then broke the net. So I'm curious, too. Okay? So within the team structure, like during the game, like, what was the voice that you would be to the other players? 

I mean, were you kind of the quiet guy that just, you know, hey, passing the ball, they know that you're going to shoot it? Or what would you say to other players during the game or if you knew somebody was a little bit of a slump? I mean, what were some things that you would say to get through to them?

Lee Humphrey: So that was a real strength of our team is all the guys would really rally around each other, but we would, I mean, if somebody was struggling, we come over to them and we say, hey, man, we need you. You got to pick it up. You know, like there would be some very positive feedback to the guys and then everyone's energy. 

Not all teams are like this, but this team had a, I mean, the energy and the motor on the team was kind of high across the board. Like, we would have bad practices like every team, but it was rare. The intensity was pretty much always there because we could lift each other up. We had some things we did as, like, a team, so we would say live in the moments. Coach Donovan talked to us a lot about that. Kind of live in the moment. Like one play at a time. Like, forget what just happened, you know, we take care of this possession. 

We would have a sign and we look at each other and do like, this is to like, kind of refocus. Like, things got really good. We kind of go like this and be like, okay, we got it. You know, you can't let your foot off the gas. Or if, like, team went on a run, we'd look at each other and do this and it was just kind of instant, like refocus the team around. You know, let's live in the moment and let's focus on what we can control right now.

Kevin Butler: That's right. Staying in the middle of staying in the middle. I mean, speaking of moments, let's walk through that second title, the tournament leading up to it. What's your favorite moment?

Lee Humphrey: The second tournament. So the second championship was. It's a completely different feeling. The first was just like carefree. We're having a ton of fun. No expectations. The second one, basically, we've got the whole team back. We lost Adrian Moss. He was a senior off the previous team. The pressure was really high, especially for Joe Kim, Al, Corey, because they were going to be lottery picks and they decided to come back.

So we had a ton of pressure. I remember we started out the season so hot. I mean, we were like UNLV from 1991, 1992. And then we went out to Las Vegas. We played Kansas in the championship game of the Vegas Thanksgiving tournament. Corey Brewer had mono. He was sick. He played. We lost that game in overtime. 

We came back. Corey didn't play the next game. He lost to Florida State. So we instantly had adversity and like, okay, wow, this is not how we ended the year. We turned it around and then we were playing great again. We clinched the SEC regular season championship game with like a regular season championship with probably five or six games still left. 

And we, after that, I could. I always remember back, like, we lost a little bit of the edge after we clinched the championship. I thought we lost three or four games and we weren't just losing. Like we were getting crushed. And we've played good teams. Vanderbilt was good, played them on the road. Tennessee was good. They beat us on the road. 

So we had to work through and kind of find our identity again. And we did that in the SEC champion SEC conference tournament. So we came out SEC conference tournament and I think we got up 180 on Georgia. We may have been ahead like 27 two or something. It was, I mean, we were really rolling and I felt like from that moment on, like something clicked and we kind of found what we had and we rolled through SEC tournament play and the NCAA tournament. We had a somewhat close game against Butler in the round of 32, but most games again were not really that close.

Brian Harbin: One of the things. So when you came to speak at grid camp, I really loved, you know, your messengers, one store. One thing that I asked you about that really stuck with me is like, so when you in a game you're getting what? Let's say you get five or six. What is your average number of attempts for threes in a game?

Lee Humphrey: Probably around six. Yeah, right.

Brian Harbin: So you get six shots a game.

Lee Humphrey: Right.

Brian Harbin: So it's like, you know, you got to deliver for you. How did you feel like you got yourself in flow and prepared to, you know, be loose and hit that shot when you needed to?

Lee Humphrey: Right. So that's a great question because it's difficult, especially, like, if you change it from high school where you're getting basically the shots you want to take, I mean, you're kind of creating your own shots to in college where it's more coming to you. It's a big adjustment for players. So it's something you have to learn to, you learn to deal with. I mean, I shot a lot of shots just daily as part of my routine. 

So that's one piece I was super confident from just my daily routine and then also playing like a lot of two on two, a lot of three on three where you are getting into these rhythms and, like really filling it to where you're getting a bunch of attempts up. But so that's one piece that I feel like you have to have. You can't just, you know, not practice that much and have it.

Brian Harbin: That's the baseline.

Lee Humphrey: That's the baseline. But once you get into the game, it's tough because the situation changes. So you have to figure out how to keep yourself engaged so that you're ready when your moment comes. And that was one of my strengths as a player is I could go long stretches, like ten minutes of game without a shot, but still be ready to hit. 

And I, for me, it was on the defensive, so I would, I mean, that's kind of how I got my first playing time at Florida anyway. It wasn't out there to score. It was because I was a good defender. So it was like my mission. I'm not going to get beat off the dribble like nobody's beating me middle. When I close out to a guy, I'm going to cut him off and I'm going to make him make a few moves or pass it. I'm going to get every rotation. 

So I'm boxing out the guy I'm supposed to be boxing out, playing the passing lanes. I was not like a high steel, like Corbar would get a bunch of steals. I get a steal here and there, but I was good at positioning and I could anticipate and, you know, deny some guys, so take away some easy passes and that would keep me kind of in the flow of a game.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. And I loved how you – Because it's not really something you would expect someone to say is that defense would actually get you in the mindset of, and I remember you said, too, it was like you felt like when you made a good defensive play, that earned you an opportunity to make a shot with your teammates.

Lee Humphrey: That's right.

Brian Harbin: A big deal, too. Cause again, it comes back to, you want to be, you know, adding to the team and adding value.

Lee Humphrey: Right. I think in basketball, most guys have the ball less than 5% of the game. So there's some high volume guys, depending on the position you play and kind of your role in the team, but most guys on the team have the ball less than, like, 5% of the game.

Kevin Butler: Speaking of guys, let's talk about Al Horford. I mean, I know you told me the stories about, you know, about Big Al. He's one of my personal favorite big men in the league because he's just accomplished so much. Finally got his ring. But I want to hear from your perspective. I mean, you're on the court with him for four years.

Lee Humphrey: We called Al the Godfather. He was like, I don't know, kind of played that role on the team. It's like he wasn't super outspoken when he spoke, you know, like, everyone listened, but he always was intense, always brought the energy, quiet confidence. There's a clip where he, like, makes a dog and shakes his shoulders and kind of like, does little shimmy. That's like the extent of his celebration almost. But you could always rely on Alan. He was super smart, you know, still is. Obviously, he could run the defense from the, from kind of the big man spot talk. Great communicator, very vocal. 

Joe Kim was the same way. We were fortunate. We had amazing bigs. Chris Richard, off the bench, too. So he had kind of this professional approach, even in college, and he took it to the NBA. And what's amazing about Al is just his ability to transform his game. Let me have these stats. Not exactly right, but I looked it up one time. 

Once Al started shooting threes and became a great three point shooter, is like, man, I got to look at these stats because Al did not shooting college. So he took, I think, three or four threes his whole three years at Florida. Didn't make any of them. 

And then I looked, and I don't think he made his first three in the NBA until, or even shot one until, like, his fifth season into the NBA, maybe made his first in, like, his 8th year. I mean, whatever it was, it was a lot of years before he made a three, and now he's turned into a three point shooter. 

Two years ago, he was second in the NBA in three point shooting percentage at a really high number at, like, 45 or something with. With making almost three games. So it's incredible that he's transformed his game like that, and that's why he's still playing. Yeah.

Brian Harbin: To be able to evolve, you know, it's incredible.

Lee Humphrey: Right.

Brian Harbin: So, you know, finished up at Florida. So tell us about that decision. What was next? How did you know? I mean, obviously went on to play in the G League. So tell us about kind of that experience about finishing up at Florida and then what to do next.

Lee Humphrey: So I just knew I wanted to play after the first championship. I thought, you know, NBA is probably a long shot, but I'm gonna be able to play somewhere, and I was gonna give NBA a shot. So I played NBA summer league with the Wizards, tried out. I did a bunch of workouts for different teams, landed there. I went to Greece to start my professional career, and I did three years in Europe before coming back to the g league. 

So my approach was just like, I just want to keep playing basketball. I'm gonna go wherever the best opportunity is to keep playing wherever it is in the world. Kind of thought, you know, never going to have this opportunity again. Let's go explore and have some fun.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. And the thing is, too, I feel like when, you know, make that decision with a sport, it's like, you really have to. If you stop too soon, there's always that piece of your mind that you regret it. And, like, once you stop and stop for a year, you can't really go back.

Lee Humphrey: Right.

Brian Harbin: So you have to run it out. And then tell us about that decision to, you know, to hang up the shoes, so to speak.

Lee Humphrey: Right. So I didn't want to hang them up. I was crushed, cried many nights after I hung it up, but it was getting tougher for me to find jobs to make it make sense to keep playing. I was 30 in Europe, or, okay, I was 30 at the time. I remember my – I didn't. My last season, I was hurt for most of it. I only played a few games. We had our oldest son in the fall, went to go play in Lithuania, got hurt. It was kind of just reaggravating an injury that I had had for basically my whole career in Europe. But I remember I had plantar fasciitis in both feet. 

And my last season, really, in Ukraine, so every morning, I would tape my feet before I got out of bed. Trainer at Duke. Who's Duke? Warner, who said Florida still there. Taught me how to tape my feet for plantar fasciitis, so I'd give myself my own tape job before I went over there, before every morning. And then my wife, Chelsea, was. She was, you know, she was the voice of reason. She's like, you know, you're not. You know, you don't know when you're not gonna be able to play, but you're not gonna be able to play forever. My goal was to play till 35. I hit 30. 

So she encouraged me to start, you know, figuring out what's next. So I went back to business school. I have a master's business administration from Florida International. That was kind of my transition back into, you know, the workforce, I guess. Yeah.

Kevin Butler: And what did you feel like, you know, over your whole career in Europe, in the g league, was like, your most important takeaway for pivoting back into the professional world?

Lee Humphrey: Flexibility and just being able to adapt to different situations. I don't know how many coaches I played. I played for a lot of coaches, pretty much. I had three consecutive years in Germany. Pretty stable situation. But outside of that, changing coaches, changing teams, changing countries, just being able to adapt and to deal with change. In the corporate world, there's always change. Every business goes through changes, and it's being able to adapt to those, figuring out how to succeed in different scenarios. 

I think we're both in sales positions now, and there's a lot that you can learn from sports and sales and work ethic. Dealing with defeat losses generally lose more than you. Winden being able to deal with that, you know, trying to help people out. I mean, you got to play within the team in sports, and we play within a team. We're trying to figure out how to help organizations, and so there's a. There's a big role to play in that.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. And, you know, you mentioned Chelsea, too. I mean, because you and Chelsea started dating in college. Right? And, you know, obviously, she was a huge, you know, support system for you through all that. I mean, how do you feel like keeping her on? I mean, for her to, you know, help you stay committed to your goal. Right?

I mean, she, you know, going through nine years of, you know, playing and traveling, I guess. Any big takeaways from that in terms of just how, you know, the support system and how important that was for you?

Lee Humphrey: I was huge. I've been hard to play as many years as I did without Chelsea. So the years were always better. Once, once we were married and she was with me, me, the first few seasons, she was still finishing up school. I was a couple years older. So once she graduated, we got married, she came over with me and, I mean, it just changed everything. It's, we kind of use it. I mean, she jokes that she was a travel agent. 

While I was playing, practicing, she was playing out what we could go see. There was a few places where she was able to work, which was really nice. She taught English in Ukraine to professionals. That was really cool for her. But, yeah, it was a lot of fun that way.

Brian Harbin: And, you know, this is something obviously people talk about a lot in terms of, like, when you're finishing up a sport like that that you've played, you know, at a super high level for so long, you know, kind of finding yourself, you know. Cause you really have to, you know, you're not identified with a basketball player anymore and you kind of have to make that transition to a new Lee Humphrey, a new version of it. So how do you, what do you feel like helped you with that transition?

Lee Humphrey: Well, Chelsea helped me a lot. She was there for, you know, basketball and non basketball. And, I mean, it was tough. I mean, the adjustment was hard. It was because I didn't want to make it at the time. Just injuries and age forced me to. But to position, you know, position myself, I actually thought maybe I want to be a lawyer. So I did an internship with a law firm at, of Gainesville. Shaq Albertante was the firm. 

And the best thing they did was say, hey, we're going to, as part of the internship you can do some work for us, but support for you is to get out and see if you actually want to go into law. So I shadowed about twelve different people in different areas. 

And basically, long story short is I found out I didn't want to be a lawyer, so I went to business school. But through that internship, I made connections that ultimately ended up with an introduction into the guy who used to lead a pontoon named Mike Wacholz. He still lives in town. And that was my connection into pontoon. I started in a job basically changing jobs every four months. 

So I did that for a year and a half, which was a great way to learn the business. It was actually pretty similar to basketball. New job every season. And then I, you know, I've had a bunch of different jobs within pontoon, but that was kind of how I got my start.

Kevin Butler: Yeah. So tell us about the start a little bit about your background. After the corporate training program and your transition into sales.

Lee Humphrey: Yeah, so it took 14 years now with punch. 10 years, yeah, I'm coming up on ten years, months. So I'm not quite 14. I just turned 40, not too old yet. I started, so I did that rotational program started in project management. So I would implement programs that were coming, you know, and that we had just won or we're getting our service live. So that's a great way to learn. 

I mean you've got to connect with a lot of folks. You've got to really learned the business to do implementations. Then I moved on to our product team. So I would work on what our target operating model was. I would work with all the current clients we have and our team supporting them to make sure are we giving them the best service that we can. 

And then from there I took over a portfolio, managed a number of accounts that was kind of my first kind of intro into sales that wasn't going on looking for new business, but there's still a lot of big sales component to that. And turned out I was doing sales and portfolio management at the same time through COVID because of just some circumstances and I really liked the sales part so I moved into sales.

Brian Harbin: What do you, what do you like the most about being in sales, would you say?

Lee Humphrey: I think it's just working with the number of customers that you can work with. If you're managing an account or a client, you really get ingrained in deep with that client. So there's some great challenges and that's exciting too. But I really like the component of the number of different organizations you can touch. 

What I love about our business is we sell to mainly Fortune 1000 companies. So you really get to learn what's going on in the market. How different companies operate is just super interesting I think, to the number of different companies you can touch.

Kevin Butler: Yeah, that was the biggest thing for me coming in February is, hey, I'd never heard of Pontoon, I had never heard of what we do, and then I had to learn all of that. And at this point now six months and you learn, not only did you learn so much about Pontoon, but you learn about every single company in the world that we're targeting to, you know, do business with. And you know, it's been probably one of the most important things for professional development. 

And so I think personally that you pivoted into sales because there's nothing like the adrenaline rush of getting a win or taking a loss and it's, it's that it's the athlete in you. It's ingrained in you, and you're just chasing that adrenaline rush you get from, you know, that signature like, oh, yes, I won.

Lee Humphrey: There is some satisfaction in it.

Brian Harbin: Absolutely. And one of the things, too. So I've gotten to know you outside of, you know, work and sports as well. Cause we've got three boys who've actually coached basketball together. We've had a chance to be your assistant coach, which I love. So you've got three boys. Tell us kind of your perspective as a dad, like some of the principles that you want to instill in them and then how you're going about doing that.

Lee Humphrey: So our boys, you've got some that are a few older than mine, but I've got 9, 7, 5. So 4th, 2nd, kindergarten. For me, the main thing at this age is really just going out there and them having fun, playing a sport, enjoying it, getting out there, wanting to be outside, wanting to play with their friends, that's a big piece of it. You know, there's a lot, you know, learning how to make friends, build relationships, interact with people. A lot of that comes, I feel like, through sports, if, you know, if you're into sports, it's a great teacher. 

So just having them out there enjoying and giving them that opportunity to kind of learn to fit themselves into a team, to interact with their peers is kind of the most important to me right now. And I feel like that also encourages creativity. So if you're out there, I try to. I try to tell my oldest son, he's like, just go experience. You know, go outside and, you know, experiment. Make up some moves. Pretend you're somebody. Pretend you're going against somebody. You can go out there and you can make mistakes. 

So I love coaching them because, you know, and it's cool to be their coach. I also feel like most important for young kids is figuring out how to just go out there and play on their own and have fun and kind of self motivate themselves in a kind of non-supervised fashion, which is tough nowadays. I mean, so much is organized, but as a coach, you get to try to foster that in an organized way.

Kevin Butler: So very on the opposite side of that self motivation. How do you approach coaching a kid that is very self critical?

Lee Humphrey: That's a great question. I want to try to instill confidence because, you know, kids can learn a lot through sports, and it's fine to make a mistake. So that's what I try to do is, like, anytime you get a chance to tell you're going to make more mistakes then not like most guys miss unless you're shooting more than 50%, you're missing more shots than you take. 

So losing, you know, learning to deal with that, I think is super important. And not to be too self critical and just to, you know, to go out there and have fun, I try to try to lift the guys up that we're coaching.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. So, like, even thinking back when you were playing, if you missed a shot or if you were off, like, what would you tell yourself in your mind or if you made one, what was kind of your own inner self talk in those moments?

Lee Humphrey: So I had to learn this as I got older. But really, I would just had a few things. Like, the next one is in, I could say in my mind, if I had one that was like, in and out, basically, in my mind, I told myself that went in, I got it robbed. It went in, I had a shoot, I would say let it fly. Sometimes just let it fly is like a saying. 

And the thing is, you never know when you're going to get hot. Like, you never know when your hot streak is coming. So no one goes out and shoots 40% to 50% from threes and makes one and misses two or makes one misses. Makes one misses, make two, misses two. They come in flurries. And I feel like it's tough for guys to learn that you may miss five or six, but you may make four in a row coming out of halftime. So it's really kind of realizing kind of how it works in reality, I feel, like, tough.

Kevin Butler: Yeah.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. I love the phrase let it fly because it's basically keeping loose. Right. And, you know, especially when it comes to shooting, it's like you tense up at all. That's gonna affect your, you know, it's gonna affect your...

Lee Humphrey: Yeah. Like, if you think you're gonna miss or if you don't think you're gonna make, you're probably gonna miss. It's like my golf game, I can't figure out. I gotta hardly ever play golf, like, twice a year, but I'm terrible and I get so nervous over the ball and I'm like, I'm going to hit it straight. I'm going to hit it straight this time. 

And I'm thinking about everything I'm going to do, and because I'm thinking about everything I'm going to do, the ball is definitely not going straight. So whatever it is with golf, I can't put it together, let it fly. Best of all, I can let it fly.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. No, and, you know, going back to coaching, coaching kids is so true. I mean, that's a big part of having fun, is you're playing loose. You're, you know, I mean, game times get so intense. Especially, we see this even with church basketball leagues, is they get very intense and kids tense up and everything that you've been practicing goes out the door because they're not playing fun like they were in practice. So it's like you have to help them learn to still have fun in the game scenario, even when it's hard, when the environment is totally different than.

Lee Humphrey: What they're used to.

Brian Harbin: Exactly.

Lee Humphrey: You got to foster that kind of mentality, because if they're not having fun, they're not coming back either. So you want them to enjoy sports. Some kids may make sports more part of their life than others, but you want them all to have a good experience.

Brian Harbin: And, you know, thinking back to in terms of any principles that you want to instill your kids, that you feel, you know, even beyond sports, that you feel like are super important, and then how you feel like you're trying to do that.

Lee Humphrey: Yeah, I think right now, I think for really just learning how to be a good teammate, how to, you know, how to talk positively to guys, how to lift them up, how to encourage folks, because I think naturally as a kid, it's tougher to learn. 

Like, I mean, maybe some kids have this more naturally than others, especially some that are more outgoing, but, you know, how to be a good teammate, lift somebody up, you know, if they're struggling, you know, go support them. I think that's one thing, too, that I'm thinking about a lot about now with the kids.

Brian Harbin: Interesting! There was another question I want to ask you, too, in terms of routine, because I think this ties in, you know, whether, whether it's a pre game routine and goes the same for sales, like, having that routine is going to help kind of prepare you for the moment, looking back to your training days, any specific parts of your routine that you felt like were instrumental in your success.

Lee Humphrey: So I did. I mean, I could talk very detailed about some things. A lot of form shooting and around the basket, which is counterintuitive. A lot of guys want to get out there and just chuck it from deep. If you don't make them close, you're not making them from far. Like the NBA guys are shooting, you know, two or three foot shots, hundreds of them a day. 

So just getting in there, swishing them, getting used to just like make, bake, make. I felt like playing a lot of one on one was big for me. I had a guy that was a couple years older than me. He was played Awake Forest. We would play one on one, three or four times a week, a lot of times before school. And that just teaches you how to score. 

So I think just putting yourself in a lot of different situations because you're only going to play so much organized five on five, you got to learn. You got to learn how to operate in different ways. And also, too, what was big for me, this was less about. I mean, it is part of my routine, but starting in like 9th grade of high school, there was a division three school in our tenement. 

So I used to play with their guys like two or three times a week. I'd go through the same kind of individual that they would do before pickup and then I'd play pickup with them. So I feel like. I don't know, maybe I just don't know the scene as well, but I feel like it's very tough to get in pickup games right now, which is a great. Pickup is a great way to learn.

Brian Harbin: Yeah.

Kevin Butler: Do you have any pregame superstitions?

Lee Humphrey: I liked home games. I like to be the first one out on the floor. I had a very set routine. I would. 

Brian Harbin: Do you mean in terms of your shots and form, shooting and everything?

Lee Humphrey: I also had a lot of fun, though. I'd always throw the – Yeah, there's three guys that were. Three guys that were in the stands the same spot. They were rowdy reptiles. I throw them a ball and they'd shoot the first shot. So I wouldn't get the first shots. Throw it into the stands, let them shoot a. Shoot a shot from the student section. That was kind of part of my routine.

Brian Harbin: Yeah, yeah. Was it Lee Humphrey, 43 and what about today? Anything that's part of your routine that you feel like, you know, is instrumental for you and what you do every day?

Lee Humphrey: I think, you know, I like to get out and talk to our, like, our folks that are supporting our customers. So, I mean, that's not as, like a daily routine. Like I want to, but I want to go kind of know what's happening with our customers and, like, how we're supporting them. So because I feel like that's the best stories and that's, like, reality and how we support customers and help them solve their problems. 

So I want to be very close to our teams that support. I think that came from kind of my time working on the target operating model. I feel like that's the best way to, like, really know how to help a customer. So that's one piece of it. I mean, I like to – I have a  routine on how I prep for a presentation, making sure I'm very familiar with, you know, kind of story we want to tell, how we want to tell it, how to. How to. How to pull the right people in, because in our business, you know, it takes a team to acquire a new customer and to really give them the support they need.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. And it's funny, too, because I'll see you. I'll go. My run. I do my run every Monday morning. I always see you out on your walk. So anything, you know, even before work, that's part of just kind of your routine, you know, why walking or why anything else that you do or why that's important to you.

Lee Humphrey: So I like to get the blood. Blood flowing. Maybe it comes from my sport days. I don't want to be, like, tight and stiff and not loose going into an important meeting or even the day. So I think doing some exercise early is good. I don't always get to do it, but I like going out for a walk if I get a chance. Sometimes I listen to a podcast, so that's good. And even during the day, too, like, if I – If, you know, sometimes before, to clean, clear my head, if we got a meeting, I'll go for, like, a 15, 20 minutes walk to kind of, like, get myself in game mode.

Kevin Butler: Play some ping pong.

Lee Humphrey: Play some ping pong.

Kevin Butler: That's right.

Brian Harbin: Any other questions you wanted to ask, Kevin?

Kevin Butler: No, I'm good.

Brian Harbin: All right, well, so the last question we ask is to all of our guests is. And, you know, you know, the grit creed from coming to speak at camp. So the twelve parts that we felt like are just life long tested principles we really were trying to instill in the next generation. So what part of the grit creed resonates the most with you and why?

Lee Humphrey: Well, there's a lot in the creed that resonates, I think, kind of what's resonating with me right now and from the conversation is I'm not yet what I'm becoming. Cause I look back, I mean, I thought I would have been in sports, really my whole life. Like, natural track is to go way into coaching after you play. 

For a while, I thought about that, but I wanted to kind of change it up after basketball and playing in Europe really got me interested in kind of international. International, I'll say affairs. But just like, topics, businesses. And I got really interested in the business world and especially international companies, which is one of the reasons why I joined our company. 

Start with – So, you know, if you look, it's the first line of the creed, but someday going to be what I am now becoming, like, it's completely different now what I expected, you know, 15 years ago. So I'm thinking about that. I'm like, okay, well, what is going to be, you know, 15 years from now? What am I becoming? And so it really resonates and you don't know. So it emphasizes the importance of continually learning, learning, continually stretching yourself, kind of evaluating where you're at.

Brian Harbin: Definitely. I mean, you never arrive, right?

Lee Humphrey: That's right. That's right.

Brian Harbin: I mean, and, like, Al Horford's a great example of somebody that's continued to evolve over time. And, and, you know, that's a good segue, too, to the fact that, you know, so, Lee, you guys can check him out on Saturdays. He's the broadcaster for the University of Florida basketball. Been doing that for seven seasons now.

Lee Humphrey: This the upcoming seven season. Yep.

Brian Harbin: So you'll hear him broadcasting. But thanks for tuning in today to the grit.org podcast, and we'll see you guys next time. Thanks!

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