Marqise Lee Marqise Lee ( born November 25 , 1991 ) is an American football wide receiver . He played college football at USC . He is considered one of the best wide receivers in his class . He finished his sophomore season in 2012 as both a unanimous All - American and winner of the Biletnikoff Award as the nation ' s top receiver . Early years . Both of Lee ' s parents , Elton Lee and Anfernee Williams , are deaf ; he communicates with them via sign language . Lee had a difficult childhood . His father was not regularly involved in his life . Lee spent the first twelve years of his life moving repeatedly between his mother and grandparents , both in low - income homes . The frequent moves forced him to repeat a grade early in elementary school . While Lee finished sixth grade , his grandfather died and his grandmother moved to the housing projects in Baldwin Village , Los Angeles ; Lee and his younger sister chose not to move with her and instead became wards of the state . His two older brothers were involved in gang s : one , Terreal Reid , was murdered in a gang - related killing and the other , Donte Reid , was imprisoned in Arizona on a count of attempted murder . Lee previously tried to join the same gang , but his brothers prevented it . His sister still lives in the Los Angeles area . When Lee started high school at Morningside High School , in Inglewood , California , he was living in a foster home . Lee played on an Amateur Athletic Union basketball team the summer after his freshman year of high school and became friends with Steven Hester Jr . , a high school student from Inglewood attending the private Junípero Serra High School in Gardena , California . The Hester family liked Lee and , in September 2008 , he moved in with them and began attending Serra . The family wanted to help Lee ' s younger sister , too , but were unable because of space and financial constraints . The Hesters became heavily involved in his life and continue to attend most of his games and practices at USC . At Serra , Lee was a year behind a stand - out wide receiver , Robert Woods , who also went to USC . As a senior Lee had had 57 receptions for 1 , 409 yards and 24 touchdowns as a wide receiver and 45 tackles and three interceptions as a defensive back . Lee was considered one of the top high school recruits in 2011 . A number of major NCAA Division I FBS college football programs offered him athletic scholarship s and Lee made official visits to Florida , Miami and Oregon before choosing to attend USC . College career . In 2011 , as a true freshman , Lee earned a starting job at wide receiver across from his former high school teammate Robert Woods . He finished the season with 73 receptions for 1 , 143 yards and 11 touchdowns ; due to sanctions , the 10 - 2 Trojans were prohibited from playing in either the inaugural Pac - 12 Conference Championship game or a post - season bowl game . The combined receptions by Lee and Woods ( 184 ) and receiving yards ( 2 , 435 ) in 2011 were the most by a pair of Trojans in a season ; Lee was awarded the 2011 Pac - 12 Freshman Offensive Co - Player of the Year and named to the All - Pac - 12 second team . Against Arizona in 2012 , Lee set the Pac - 12 Conference record for receiving yards in a game with 16 receptions for 345 yards and two touchdowns . The following week , Lee had 251 return yards against Oregon , setting another conference record . He finished the season with 118 catches for 1 , 721 yards and 14 touchdowns and was named the 2012 Pac - 12 Conference offensive player of the year . Lee won the 2012 Fred Biletnikoff Award as the top wide receiver in the nation , becoming the first Trojan to win the award . He was also a unanimous All - American . As a junior in 2013 , Lee played in 11 games , recording 57 receptions for 791 yards and four touchdowns . On January 3 , 2014 , Lee announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2014 NFL Draft . During his three - year career he had 248 receptions for 3 , 655 yards and 29 touchdowns . Lee also competed on the USC track and field team in the spring , competing in the long jump and sprint relay .