In his senior year of high school, Don Dee led his team, Kansas City’s Bishop Lillis High, to an undefeated 32-0 record and the state championship. He first attended St. Louis University but after a knee injury, left school and transferred to little St. Mary of the Plains in Kansas, nearer his home of Dodge City. While at St. Mary of the Plains, Dee set all sorts of school records for scoring and rebounding and made NAIA All-America. He went on to play AAU ball briefly after his graduation in 1968, then joined the U.S. Olympic team and went to Mexico City where he won a gold medal. Upon his return he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons of the NBA, but played one year of pro basketball with the Indiana Pacers of the ABA.