Junior center Gabe Lee has formally withdrawn from the University of Massachusetts due to personal reasons and is not expected to compete for the Massachusetts men’s basketball team during the 2004-05 season, according to a published release from head coach Steve Lappas.

Lee, a 6-foot-9 210-pound native of Camilla, Ga., started the first 14 games of 2003-04 for the Minutemen, averaging 9.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per contest. However his season was cut short after a severe ankle injury suffered Jan. 14 at St. Bonaventure kept him out for the remainder of the season.

“We will continue to support Gabe Lee in sorting through some matters in his personal life,” Lappas said in the release.

After being heavily recruited out of high school by schools such as Connecticut, North Carolina and Cincinnati, a shoulder injury landed Lee in prep school at nearby Northfield-Mount Hermon for a year before he arrived at UMass prior to the 2001-02 season.

After sitting out his freshman season at UMass as an academic non-qualifier, Lee cracked the Maroon and White’s lineup and started 13 of 28 games during the 2002-03 campaign.

A dominant shot-blocker, Lee lead the Minutemen with 46 blocks in ’02-03, and was ranked first in the Atlantic 10 and ninth in the nation with 44 blocks this season – an average of 3.2 per game – before succumbing to injury.

Lee also averaged 9.1 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game in 14 games this season, his first as a starter.

The loss of Lee could hurt the Minutemen up front, where bigger teams often exploited them this season without Lee in the lineup. However next season’s recruiting class includes a pair of big men in 7-foot former Connecticut high school star Jeff Salovski, as well as Canadian forward Oliver Lamoureux.

In addition, 6-foot-8 swingman and former Top 100 recruit Lawrence Carrier will join the squad after sitting out this season due to academics.