Senior guard Jaila Lee of the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) women’s basketball team was no stranger to a hectic lifestyle, growing up with four siblings in Brentwood, Tennessee. What she wasn’t prepared for, however, was the moment her life and college basketball career took an unexpected turn. 

“I’ve always been an athletic kid; I played every sport under the moon when I was little," said Lee. "I was that kid that would get mad when their parents told them to come back inside the house.”

Basketball eventually would stand out among the rest, thanks to one major influence. 

“One thing that made basketball stand out to me was watching Kobe play. Ever since I saw him play, how he moved and his mindset, it just made me want to focus on the sport more and take it more seriously. I really thought soccer was going to be my main sport, but after watching Kobe, the roles flipped. I just started falling in love with the game more and more as I saw him play.”

Lee began her college career at St. Francis Brooklyn, where she spent her first two seasons. During her freshman year, she suffered a torn ACL, that sidelined her for her sophomore season. Around that same time, she noticed something didn’t feel right in her neck, but she wasn’t too concerned about it because her lymph nodes would swell from time to time from cold weather, sicknesses or whatever it may be. 

“What made me realize that something was not right was more of a girly thing. I saw a picture of myself after a game and I was like, ‘I don’t like how I look in that picture. I feel like I look weird’.” 

After showing the same picture to her mom, she agreed something seemed off. 

Already visiting doctors for her ACL, Lee decided to ask about her neck during an appointment. “No one was really able to tell me what it was. They just said, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’ve never seen that’.” Eventually, one doctor recommended a biopsy.

“That’s when I realized this is something more serious than I thought.” 

About a week after the biopsy, Lee’s doctor in New York stated that she had sarcoma cells. Lee was then referred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which allowed her to be closer to home. By the end of February 2022, Lee learned she would need chemotherapy. 

“The tumor was too big to remove with surgery at first. So I started six rounds of chemo, but they needed to shrink it more before surgery, which meant I also had to get radiation.” 

On October 31, 2022, Lee underwent surgery to remove the cancer. Because the stage three disease was rare and severe, the surgery was supposed to be really aggressive. The procedure was expected to last eight hours, with doctors giving her just a 40 percent chance of survival.

“They told me I might need a trachea, my tongue might not be the same — all kinds of things. But once they got in there, the surgery only took two hours, and there were no complications."

Lee credits her family’s faith for helping her through the process. “That’s how I know God was with me the whole time. My family is such a praying family. We pray about everything and worry about nothing. For the surgery to go from an eight-hour procedure to only two hours, really showed how strong God is in my life.”

During Lee’s chemotherapy, she didn’t want to eat, she didn’t feel well and she was always tired. But once she was done, she gained her appetite back. 

“I was eating like crazy — anything I wanted, my parents got for me. I was even working out like my normal self. I was running, lifting, shooting — doing everything I usually do. All I can say is God, because I don’t know how I was able to do all of that.”

Despite everything she endured, Lee never doubted she would return to basketball.

“There was never a moment in my mind where I was like, ‘I’m never going to be able to play basketball again’. I live by the verse, Jeremiah 29:11, God says for I know the plans that I have for you. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope in the future. The whole time I just kept saying, ‘I just have to get over this and then I can get back on the court.’ I never thought that this just wasn’t the path for me.”

She trained and worked hard to get back and be ready to perform her junior year, but her journey as a Terrier came to a crossroads. During her spring break of 2022, the entire St. Francis Brooklyn athletic department got brought into a room and was told that athletics at the institution would be discontinued. The only two options for Lee and her teammates were to either transfer or stop playing. 

Head Coach Linda Cimino and Assistant Coach Jennifer Leedham of St. Francis Brooklyn were there with Lee the whole time. 

“They just told me that we will figure this out and everything will be okay. They said, we will find a place for me.”

About two months later, Lee signed with UNC Asheville. After one season with the Bulldogs, the coaching staff was dismissed. She was given the option to stay or transfer without penalty. 

Lee earned her bachelor's in broadcasting and journalism from UNC Asheville. Wanting to pursue a master’s degree after graduating early, Lee entered the transfer portal once more.

She eventually found her way to UNCG, where she is now working towards her Master's of Business Administration. 

“It was actually a funny story. I had heard of UNCG a little bit, but we played them while I was at UNC Asheville in 2023-24. UNCG was predicted to win the game, but towards the end I was actually the one that hit the game-winning free throws. So, UNC Asheville ended up winning. When I first started talking to UNCG, that was the first comment the coaches made, was about that game.” 

“I love the family aspect of playing at UNCG. I feel like no matter what, we all stick together. If we have a bad game or someone had a bad game, we all let each other know that we are there for one another. Nobody is going to have your back like we have your back.”

In 2024, during a routine checkup, doctors discovered a small cancer cell in Lee’s lung. Because it was caught so early, they were able to surgically remove it. Lee continues to undergo checkups every three months and is still waiting to move to annual visits. 

“Being back on a team, being able to play and do what I love, makes me grateful every time I step on the court. There’s no taking it for granted. It’s something that can easily be stripped away from anyone at any time. Really knowing that I could’ve not played again, just gave me a lot more love for the game.”

Lee was a part of the historical  2024-25 women's basketball team that won the 2025 SoCon Regular Season, the 2025 SoCon Tournament and earned the automatic bid into The 2025 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament for the second time in program history. 

For the remainder of her senior season, Lee’s goal is simple.

The biggest thing Lee hopes to do for the remainder of her senior year is just not take it for granted and to play every single game like it’s her last. “I won’t be able to get any of these moments back again.”

Lee was selected to the SoCon Preseason All-Conference Team ahed of the 2025-26 season. She was named SoCon Player of the Week on Jan. 13 after leading the team to wins over Samford and Mercer to begin conference play. Lee is second in the SoCon at the charity stripe with a 90.9 percentage and is averaging 9.6 points per game this season.  

After graduation, Lee of course has big goals in mind. She hopes to play overseas. If that path doesn’t work out, she plans to pursue a career in coaching, sports management or pharmaceutical sales.

To young athletes facing adversity, Lee offers this advice: “Trust in yourself, trust in God and trust your support system. I couldn’t have gotten through any of this without mine.”

Lee and the UNCG women's basketball team will continue their SoCon slate on the road this week by traveling to Macon, Georgia, to take on the Mercer Bears on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Hawkins Arena. UNCG will conclude the week at Samford on Saturday for a 3:00 PM EST/2:00 PM CST tip-off in the Pete Hanna Center.

Check out the full interview with Jaila Lee below.