What South Carolina assistant Monte Lee said about his return to Clemson

Monte Lee has been through this before. He understands what it’s like to return to a place he once called home.

When he first landed his second head coaching gig at Clemson in 2016, his previous school, College of Charleston, was on the schedule.

“For me, I try to pull on past experiences and I’ve had this experience before coming from the College of Charleston,” Lee said. “When we played the College of Charleston while I was the head coach at Clemson, I had to experience that. Just being in the other dugout and playing against a group of kids that you love and coaching against a program that you love being a part of.”

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Come Friday, Lee will return to Clemson for the first time since being fired after seven seasons. Only this time, he’ll be wearing a South Carolina Gamecocks uniform.

Lee went 242-136 with the Tigers, making an NCAA Regional in each of his first four years. However, his last two seasons were spent near the bottom of the ACC standings.

In the moments leading up to these types of games, Lee said it can get “a little bit weird.”

“As you go into the ballpark or they come into your ballpark, you see the kids. You just remember recruiting them, you remember coaching them and just being with them through good times and bad times and all those special moments that you spend together. It’s really about the people more than the opponent,” he said.

Lee admitted there might be some pregame jitters when he arrives.

“I’ll remember all the great times that I’ve had there. It kind of brings back all the great memories that I had while coaching at Clemson,” Lee said.

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Once the game starts, it’s business as usual for Lee. It’s going to be an important series for the Gamecocks, who will come into Clemson on a nine-game winning streak.

“My job is to cheer on the players and try to coach the players during the game,” Lee said. “I feel like I can put those things to the side and just focus on the game at hand. We don’t really do a whole lot in terms of how the outcome of the games goes. Whatever decisions we make, whatever plan we have, it’s about the players executing it. My role is going to be to help them execute the plan to win the game, and I think I’ll be okay once the game starts.”

One thing that Lee doesn’t know is how he’ll be received by the Clemson faithful when he steps onto the field. Instead of worrying too much about it, he just tries to live by a simple principle.

“I try to treat people the way I would want to be treated,” Lee said. “The people at Clemson were great to me. I’ve had many great relationships with a lot of people. If I get a chance to say hello to them while I’m up there, I’d love to.”

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Lee won’t be the only former Tiger making a return. Dylan Brewer, Jonathan French and Ricky Williams transferred to South Carolina to join their old Clemson head coach.

It might be easier for Lee to handle the emotions that come with it since he’s been through it before. But that might not be the case for his players.

His advice for those going back to Clemson for the first time was simple: stay calm, cool and collected.

“Just do everything we can to control our emotions. I think that is key,” Lee said. “And that starts in batting practice, whatever our approach is going to be in that game — we’re going to make sure we game plan in our practice routine and get a feel for that ballpark.”

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Once this weekend comes to an end, Lee might take time to reflect on how lucky he’s been to coach on both sides of “the greatest rivalry in college baseball.”

“It’s just very humbling and it’s something that I’m very proud of, quite honestly, to be a part of it on both sides,” Lee said. “Sometimes you just have to pinch yourself that God puts you in this position. I’m just very grateful for the opportunities that I have had personally and just to be a part of it has been very special to me.”

The Gamecocks will begin the series at Clemson Friday night at 6 p.m. They’ll move over to Greenville’s Fluor Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. and then return to Founders Park on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

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