Transition to Monte Lee 'extremely smooth' so far
There is a lot of new around South Carolina’s baseball program.
Between a new recruiting class, double-digit transfers and departures, there are a ton of unfamiliar faces around the Gamecocks’ diamond. But the biggest new addition is an incredibly familiar face.
South Carolina brought back Monte Lee as the team’s associate head coach and recruiting coordinator with early returns positive.
Special: Get a year of Gamecock Central for $10!
“The transition with Monte joining us has been extremely smooth. We’re on the same page in just about everything in terms of how we look at it, how things should be done,” Mark Kingston said. “We had a good relationship before this started and it’s only grown since he got here. It’s been very smooth.”
Lee most recently served as Clemson’s head coach but cut his teeth in coaching at South Carolina.
He was an assistant on Ray Tanner’s staff from 2003 to 2008 before taking the College of Charleston job.
Lee, who’s won 518 games as a head coach and was also part of South Carolina’s 2003 and 2004 College World Series team, is in charge now of getting the offense back on track.
The Gamecocks have struggled for consistency offensively and Lee will try to get the most out of this group of hitters.
It’s still way too early to know what that will look like with fall scrimmages just a week old, but Kingston likes the bond so far.
“It’s probably too early to say what will be different. You need to get into the trenches, into full team practices. And need to get into games and how you prepare and scouting reports and all those things,” Kingston said.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Second CFP Top 25
Newest CFP rankings are out
- 2New
Updated CFP Bracket
12-Team playoff bracket after 2nd CFP Top 25
- 3Trending
Diego Pavia
Court denies Vandy QB temporary restraining order against the NCAA
- 4
Nico Iamaleava
Tennessee QB dealing with concussion ahead of Georgia game
- 5
Governor slams LSU
Live tiger defended, LSU Tigers ripped
“What I will say is Monte, the things he and I have talked about in terms of what we want to do with our hitters is there are different areas that cause improvement to happen.”
Three players who were on Lee’s final team at Clemson are now on South Carolina’s roster this year. Catcher Jonathan French, outfielder Dylan Brewer and pitcher Ricky Williams all came over via the portal.
French slashed .218/.333/.428 last year with eight home runs while Brewer hit .208/.295/.338 with four homers. Williams had a 2.95 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 21.1 innings.
Click here to follow the Gamecock Central YouTube page!
“I expect a good impact,” Kingston said. “In what roles it will be determined. And what impact will be determined based on how they play and how other guys are playing around them. I think they all bring something to the table that will really help us.”
Those three are part of a 10-man transfer portal class to mix with a big recruiting class as well.
With so much new, including Lee, Kingston and the staff have already started trying to foster camaraderie.
“We’ve been intentional about trying to start to form a team very early on this school year with different things we’re doing,” Kingston said. “It’s been a good start but anxious to watch the start to do some scrimmaging and play some baseball.”
