Monte Lee
Monte Lee at Clemson
Current position
TitleAssociate head coach
Recruiting coordinator
TeamSouth Carolina
ConferenceSEC
Biographical details
Born (1977-02-09) February 9, 1977 (age 47)
Lugoff, South Carolina, U.S.
Alma materCollege of Charleston
Playing career
1996–1999College of Charleston
Position(s)OF
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2001–2002Spartanburg Methodist (asst.)
2003–2008South Carolina (asst.)
2009–2015College of Charleston
2016–2022Clemson
2023–presentSouth Carolina (AHC/RC)
Head coaching record
Overall518–281
TournamentsNCAA: 12–10
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NCAA Regional: 2014
CAA: 2015
CAA Tournament: 2014
SoCon: 2012
ACC Tournament: 2016

Monte Wesley Lee (born February 9, 1977) is an American baseball coach, who is the current associate head baseball coach and recruiting coordinator for the South Carolina Gamecocks. He played college baseball for the Charleston Cougars from 1996 to 1999. He then served as the head coach of the College of Charleston Cougars (2009–2015) and the Clemson Tigers (2016–2022).

Under Lee, the Cougars reached four NCAA tournaments, including one NCAA Super Regional.[1]

Playing career

Lee played four seasons of baseball (1996–1999) at College of Charleston. An outfielder, Lee was a career .333 hitter and had 22 home runs. He became the program's fifth major-league draftee when he was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals following his senior year and played two seasons of minor league baseball, advancing as high as Single-A.[1][2][3][4]

Coaching career

Lee began his coaching career with a two-year stint (2001–2002) as an assistant at Spartanburg Methodist, a junior college located in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. During Lee's tenure, the program reached an NJCAA Division I World Series and set a single-season win record. Lee then spent six seasons (2003–2008) as an assistant at South Carolina. The Gamecocks qualified for the NCAA tournament in each of Lee's six seasons and also appeared in two College World Series.[1][5]

College of Charleston

Lee was hired as the head coach at College of Charleston prior to the start of the 2009 season.[6] In Lee's second season, the Cougars broke the 40-win mark and appeared in their first NCAA tournament in his tenure. At the Myrtle Beach Regional, the Cougars advanced to the regional final with wins over third-seeded NC State and first-seeded Coastal Carolina, but were eliminated with consecutive defeats by Coastal in the championship round. In 2012, the team shared the Southern Conference regular season title and advanced to another NCAA tournament, where it went 1–2. In 2014, Charleston won the conference tournament in their first season in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Cougars then won the Gainesville Regional with a 3–0 record, defeating host Florida and Long Beach State twice. In the Lubbock Super Regional, the Cougars were defeated by Texas Tech in consecutive 1–0 games. In 2015 season, the Cougars won the CAA regular season crown with a 21–3 record, before falling to the UNCW Seahawks in the CAA Championship game. Charleston was selected as a #2 seed in Florida State's Tallahassee Regional, where they went 2–2, finishing second behind the host Seminoles.[7][8][9][10]

In Lee's seven seasons at Charleston, 21 players were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Pitcher Heath Hembree was taken in the 5th round by the San Francisco Giants in 2010 and reached the major leagues in 2013. A total of six Cougars were taken in that draft, the highest total of Lee's tenure. In his final season at Charleston, the Arizona Diamondbacks selected pitcher Taylor Clarke in the third round, making him the program's highest ever selection.[11][12][13]

Clemson

On June 18, 2015, Clemson hired Lee to be their 28th head coach in program history; Lee became only the third head coach at Clemson since 1958 (taking over a program that ranked 8th all-time in Division I wins at the time of his hire).[14]

Monte Lee guided the 2016 Tigers to an ACC baseball tournament title in his first season, defeating the defending ACC Champion Florida State Seminoles in a marathon game by a score of 18–13 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, NC. The win produced the program's first conference title in ten years and Lee's first Clemson team captured the program's 10th conference tournament title and 15th overall ACC championship - both league records. Lee also became the third consecutive Clemson head coach to win the ACC in his first season, joining Bill Wilhelm (1958) and Jack Leggett (1994). The Tigers' 44 victories in 2016 are the second-most victories by a first-year head coach in Clemson history. A strong finish to the season propelled the Tigers to their 41st appearance and the #7 overall national seed to the NCAA tournament.[15]

In 2022, Lee earned his 500th career victory. The Tigers defeated College of Charleston on March 29 to give Lee the victory.[16] At the end of the season Lee was fired as head coach after failing to make the NCAA tournament. It was the second consecutive season that Clemson did not qualify for the tournament.[17]

Return to South Carolina

On August 18, 2022, Lee returned to South Carolina as the team's associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.[18]

Head coaching record

The following is a table of Lee's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.[10][19]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
College of Charleston (Southern Conference) (2009–2013)
2009 College of Charleston 35–22 17–13 5th
2010 College of Charleston 44–19 22–8 2nd NCAA Regional
2011 College of Charleston 39–22 18–12 T–3rd
2012 College of Charleston 38–22 21–9 T–1st NCAA Regional
2013 College of Charleston 31–26 18–11 T–2nd
College of Charleston: 96–53 (.644)
College of Charleston (Colonial Athletic Association) (2014–2015)
2014 College of Charleston 44–19 15–6 2nd NCAA Super Regional
2015 College of Charleston 45–15 21–3 1st NCAA Regional
College of Charleston: 276–145 (.656) 36–9 (.800)
Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2016–2022)
2016 Clemson 44–20 16–14 4th (Atlantic) NCAA Regional
2017 Clemson 42–21 17–13 3rd (Atlantic) NCAA Regional
2018 Clemson 47–16 22–8 1st (Atlantic) NCAA Regional
2019 Clemson 35–26 15–15 4th (Atlantic) NCAA Regional
2020 Clemson 14–3 3–0 Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Clemson 25–27 16–20 5th (Atlantic)
2022 Clemson 35–23 13–16 6th (Atlantic)
Clemson: 242–136 (.640) 102–86 (.543)
Total: 518–281 (.648)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ a b c "Monte Lee". CofCSports.com. College of Charleston Athletics Communications. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  2. ^ "Transactions". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. June 6, 2000. p. 6C. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  3. ^ "Monte Lee". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  4. ^ Lananna, Michael. "Clemson Hires Monte Lee as Head Coach". BaseballAmerica.com. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  5. ^ Strelow, Paul (June 11, 2003). "Extra Work Pays Off for Lee, USC". The Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina. p. B1. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  6. ^ Yanity, Pete (July 7, 2008). "USC, Clemson Hire Coaches". WSPA.com. CBS 7 WSPA. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  7. ^ Stires, Sean. "Myrtle Beach Super Regional". CollegeBaseball360.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  8. ^ Sapakoff, Gene (June 1, 2014). "Sapakoff: Gamecocks Agony, College of Charleston Joy and Clemson". PostAndCourier.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  9. ^ Lockman, Tyler (June 17, 2014). "Interviews for ASU Baseball Coach Underway". FoxSports.com. FOX Sports Arizona. Archived from the original on June 21, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "2014 Southern Conference Baseball Record Book" (PDF). SoConSports.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  11. ^ "MLB Amateur Draft Picks Who Came from "College of Charleston"". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  12. ^ "Former CofC Pitcher Heath Hembree Called Up to MLB Giants". ABCNews4.com. College of Charleston Athletics Communications. September 3, 2013. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  13. ^ Schulman, Henry (September 3, 2013). "SF Giants' Gary Brown 'Not Far Away' Plus Notes on Hembree, Runzler" (blog). San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  14. ^ "2016 NCAA Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). NCAA.org. NCAA.
  15. ^ "Clemson Claims ACC Baseball Championship | ACC News". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
  16. ^ Robertson, Justin (March 29, 2022). "Clemson's Monte Lee earns five hundredth career victory". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  17. ^ Aaro, David (May 31, 2022). "Monte Lee out as Clemson head baseball coach after seven seasons". foxnews.com. Fox News. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  18. ^ "South Carolina Gamecocks baseball adds former Clemson Tigers coach Monte Lee to staff". www.espn.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  19. ^ "2014 Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy and Cynthia Mills. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
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