When he was signed in February, the immediate reaction to B.J. Lee was to ask if his height — listed at 5-foot-5 — was a typo. A running back at Ridgeland (Miss.) High School, the Mustangs signed him to play receiver … and this in an era in which many teams covet receivers who are on the north side of six feet tall, not a half a foot under.

But then the talk spread about Lee’s speed, which bordered on legendary. Some reports said the 4.4 time reported for his 40-yard dash was actually conservative, and he was labeled the fastest player in the entire state of Mississippi.

B.J. Lee's 4.37 was the fastest 40-yard dash time run by any Mustang in preseason camp (photo by SMU athletics).

When he arrived in Dallas for the team’s optional offseason conditioning workouts, word of Lee’s wheels spread quickly, as he established himself as one of the fastest players on the team. Then, when the team was tested for strength and speed in mid-August by strength coach Vic Viloria, Lee clocked a blistering 4.37.

Two things to note with that time: first, not everyone on the team ran, so while Lee’s time was the fastest recorded for any player, there are others who didn’t run — Aldrick Robinson, Emmanuel Sanders, etc. — who might have challenged him for the team title. (When asked if he was faster than the Ponies' absent sprinters, Lee smiled ... and declined to answer. "I don't know what they run in the 40,: he said. "I just know they're real fast, too.)

But it also is worth noting that Lee wasn’t exactly well-rested when he burned up the track.

“We did squats that morning,” he said. “I wasn’t feeling too good. My legs weren’t feeling too good.”

That, of course, brings to mind the question of how fast he can run if he is well rested.

“The best I’ve ever run is a 4.30,” Lee said, “at the Memphis camp.”

Lee said he is accustomed to being the fastest player on his team, but also is used to being the smallest player on his team. Therefore, he seems undaunted by the task of getting into the rotation with the Ponies.

“I’m still learning the offense, so while I’m doing that, I’m trying to get in, to fit in,” Lee said. “They’ve got me playing the ‘X’ position — the outside receiver. But I’ll do whatever the coaches want me to do.”

For the time being, the coaches have run Lee with the second-team and third-team offense. Another part of what the coaches want from Lee is for him to gain more experience, and subsequently more confidence, catching the ball.

“I hardly saw any passes in high school,” he said, “so when I got here, I really didn’t have any fundamentals in catching the ball. Just since I got here, I’ve learned things that most receivers already know: hand placement, making sure your hands line up like a diamond, or a noose.”

Lee held his hands up in front of him, demonstrating the proper hand technique for receiving the ball — palms facing away from him (toward the oncoming ball), with the tips of his thumbs touching and the tips of his index fingers touching, leaving a small gap through which he can see the pass headed his way.

“If you don’t get your hands right, you’re not going to catch the ball,” he said. “It sounds simple, but a lot of people don’t do it right. I didn’t do it right, and now that I am, it makes sense.”

Other details he has learned are less obvious, like the placement of his hands while running routes.

“When you come out of your breaks, you never drop your hands,” Lee said, “you never bring them down below your waist. You do that, and it’s harder than you think to get them back up in time.”

Lee also has been among a handful of players fielding punts in the Mustangs’ practice sessions. Whether that allows him to play in his first season, rather than redshirting, remains to be seen. But Lee said that whether he ends up in the rotation this year or next, everything he has done thus far has been educational.

“Everything has been a learning experience,” he said. “My body’s tired, like everyone else’s, and the speed of the game is a lot faster, but you learn something every day.

“With this offense, you have to make your reads fast. We’ve got a lot swimming in our heads. I got to a point in high school where I did a lot of things without thinking. Right now, I’m thinking about things, because I’m learning, but it’s getting better all the time. I’ve got to get to the point where I’m not thinking, I’m just ‘doing.’”