Monte Lee returns to Gamecocks in same role, different time
Monte Lee has spent the last decade as a head coach, now he returns to the Gamecocks as an assistant once again.
It’s an adjustment going from being the head coach and wearing all the hats that come along with it, but for him the title is just that. He just wants to help however he can.
“The title does not necessarily matter to me, I’ll be quite honest with you,” Lee said in his introductory press conference Monday.
Lee could have opted to go to professional ranks with the Los Angeles Dodgers but opted to return to where his Division I career began. Lee spent six seasons with the Gamecocks from 2003 to 2008 before taking the College of Charleston job.
And for him it’s not about anything else right now outside of helping the Gamecocks maximize their potential.
“My motivation is not to do a good job as an assistant coach,” Lee said, “whatever the title is, hitting coach base running outfield recruiting, it’s not to do well in that role to be a head coach again.
Lee talked in length about how the philosophy within the building is to “dominate your role,” whatever that is. As he finds himself in a fresh one, he must do the same.
Lee was fired as head coach at Clemson after the team failed to make the postseason for the second consecutive year. He was 242-136 overall at Clemson and led the Tigers to four NCAA tournament berths in seven seasons, including three top 16 seeds.
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Now Lee joins Kingston and a revitalized Gamecocks roster ahead of the 2022 season. He is also reunited with three of his former players from Clemson who made the jump in the offseason.
Catcher Jonathan French, centerfielder Dylan Brewer and right-handed pitcher Ricky Williams all transferred to South Carolina over the summer. They join a hoard of top 100 transfers that Kingston brought into the program.
His mantra to both himself and the players he’ll coach is to bloom where planted. The goal is to control what he can control and right now that means being at South Carolina.
“My job is to do the very best job I can for the University of South Carolina baseball program,” he said, “to recruit the best players I can to develop the players that we have here and to help Mark Kingston get to Omaha and win a national championship.”
Tanner brought Lee on to help Kingston and his staff with recruiting and offensive production. Both are areas for improvement for the Gamecocks. The 2022 team ranked dead last in the SEC in average, runs, and hits.
South Carolina also ranks outside the top 20 for the 2023 recruiting class according to Perfect Game. The team also ranks 18th in the 2024 class rankings.
