Soon enough college basketball players will be allowed to begin working out again on campuses across the country as they join their teams and look ahead to the new season. It will be some semblance of normalcy after what has been a challenging few months for the players and coaches who had the season cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Arizona is expected to start up its summer workout program next month, but the team has not been together since it left Las Vegas when the Pac-12 Tournament was canceled back in March.

In the time since that day it has been up to the returning players to prepare themselves as best they can for the games to begin this fall. Some players are in a better position than others to continue what they would have done had they been able to remain at school over the offseason.

Arizona power forward Ira Lee returned home to the Los Angeles area when the season ended, but unlike other players who have had to rely on their own self discipline to work out the senior has the advantage of having a strength coach for a father.

Zeph Lee played in the NFL after his college career at USC, but since his playing days ended he has been a strength coach helping players such as his son, Ira, and other athletes as they prepare for college as part of the West Coast Elite travel ball program that has featured plenty of current and former UA players such as Nico Mannion and Josh Green.

“I have access to a few gyms out here, and a lot of people know my dad is a strength and conditioning coach,” he said during a Zoom media session with local reporters on Friday. “So, I’ve been working hard with him. I go about two or three times a day, because honestly there’s not much else you can do right now.”

Lee, who has been able to work out with incoming UA freshman forward Tibet Görener this offseason, has had to work through some of the problems other players are dealing with right now and one of those is going through an offseason workout while wearing a mask.

California is one state that has again mandated masks and face coverings to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, but it is something Lee has had to try to get used to as he prepares for the upcoming season.

“I work out with a mask everyday, because my dad he’s scared of the coronavirus,” he said. “That’s all he talks about. Hand sanitizer, wear your mask. It’s uncomfortable. I’ve been doing it for a month or two and still really haven’t gotten used to it. So, I’m real curious about how we’re gonna go about that when it comes to five-on-five practice and even the coaches are still wondering about how that’s gonna work.

“So, everybody we’re all just trying to figure it out.”

One issue that he has had while working out is something as simple as keeping his mask on. He says 10 minutes into a workout his mask tends to shift and fall down because of sweat, so he is intrigued to see how much that will impact other players should the Wildcats get back on campus and have to practice or play with face coverings or masks.

That has become an issue because of how he plays.

Lee has had his ups and downs throughout his career and there have been moments when he's a big contributor and other times when he has to battle for playing time. No matter how much he plays whenever he is on the court his energy and intensity is something that always stands out.

That is something he says comes directly from his dad.

“A lot of people know my dad was a pro football player and played for the Raiders for five, six years,” Lee said. “So, he’s always instilled in me ‘work hard.’ Work hard at anything you do whether it’s school, basketball, even when I do my song writing – go hard in that. It applies to when we work out everyday. Every day if he sees me slacking he’ll get on me, so I just take that mentality and I put it towards everything I do in life.

“Everybody knows how I get down. I work hard and I play hard. That’s what my dad has taught me, that one simple thing right there.”

Sean Miller's team is tentatively set to begin arriving on campus next month and that is something Lee is looking forward to since there will be a new batch of players on the court along with some familiar faces.

“I haven’t been around the team in a while so it will be good to see them,” he said. “And, also, just to follow the protocol they have for us and just settling back in and getting ready for what’s to come.”

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