bscnews1414   Album Posted Aug.9th, 2024, viewed 34 times

When he was a student at JoongAng University, Lee Jae-hyun was considered the best setter in college.

Right before the rookie draft last year, Lee displayed stellar performance at the national college volleyball tournament, giving the team the title. He also won the setter prize. As a junior, however, the result of the early draft was cool-headed. He fell far short of the first-round pick that he expected, and fell to the seventh place in the second round. As a result, no one predicted Lee would win the Rookie of the Year award before the 2023-24 season began. He was the only one who trusted him.

"First solo interview. Nice to meet you"
This is my first solo interview with The Spyke.
Yes, it's my first time in a magazine. In fact, it's my first solo interview except during the season. There were a lot of news about interviews with other players in magazines on Instagram, and I even watched "The Spyke" while I was a student. So I thought to myself, "How can I get it in a magazine?" I wanted to be an interviewer. But now that I'm going to be in a magazine, I'm curious and nervous (laughs). Thank you for your first solo interview.

I had the pleasure of winning the Rookie of the Year award last season.
Thank you. Actually, I practiced a lot about my acceptance speech. On the way to the award ceremony, I memorized my acceptance speech in advance (laughs). But when I came to the podium, I was a little nervous. I was talking about it now, but I don't know what I was talking about. But looking at it again later, I don't think it was bad except for the slip of the tongue. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Wouldn't this be pretty good.

If there's anything you haven't said, I think it'd be good to take this opportunity to say it again.
I'm nervous again to say this. I'm so honored to receive this great award. I would never have been able to do it on my own. You guys, coaches, teammates and even the owner helped me a lot to win it. I think I played relatively many games because everyone trusted me. Everyone cheered me on a lot, and I just want to say thank you again. Now it's my second year, and next season, I'd like to spend a year where I can repay that trust.

In fact, Jae-hyun won the Rookie of the Year award this time, and the Rookie of the Year award came out at Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance for two consecutive seasons.
Yes, in the previous season, (Kim) Jun-woo won the Rookie of the Year award. When I heard that I was going to receive the Rookie of the Year award, I remember him laughing and joking around. He said, "Why are you the Rookie of the Year award, it hurts my pride." I think other members teased me similarly in the front because we were close to each other and felt like brothers. But when I was separated from the back, more people congratulated me than anyone else. The atmosphere was really good.

I heard that he was moved by the reaction of Lee Yoon-soo, who joined the team as the first overall player.
(I) have known Yoon-soo since he was in middle school. We learned volleyball together when he was in Yeonhyeon Middle School. In fact, when he joined Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance, he received more attention than I did. Even from the side, he has a lot of things. Unfortunately, he didn't make it to the court much because he had an injury in the early part of the season. I think I felt sorry for some reason. But he was really happy about the news of my first selection. I remember his expression of sincere joy when he received the Rookie of the Year award.

I think I've heard a lot from my draft colleagues. Is there a congratulatory message that you remember the most.
I know all of my draft colleagues, but I'm especially close to Shin Seong-ho who is almost the same age as me and I worked with him for a while in high school. We often talked about this and that even when I was a professional. He congratulated me again in person, as expected at the news of the Rookie of the Year award. He casually said, "I knew you'd get it," but I think it's more memorable (laughs).


안전놀이터