Stuart Lake Named Coordinator of Baseball Administration/Director of Player Development
Jan. 26, 2017
Columbia, S.C. — Stuart Lake is returning to the University of South Carolina baseball program as Coordinator of Baseball Administration and Director of Player Development as announced by head coach Chad Holbrook on Thursday afternoon. The former Gamecock baseball assistant coach most recently served as head coach of Charleston Southern for the last eight seasons. Lake will be involved with many aspects in the Gamecock program including coordinating game day and practice needs for the coaches and players and incorporating technology to enhance South Carolina’s player development.
“I am honored that Coach Holbrook and his staff and players have given me this opportunity,” Lake said. “The exciting part of this opportunity is that I get to return home to a Gamecock program that I love so much. I will get to work with the coaches and players daily in one of the best baseball programs in the country. I am truly honored by this opportunity and I can’t wait to go to work alongside our great staff.”
As head coach of the Charleston Southern program, Lake won 176 games, second on the Buccaneer’s all-time wins list as well as a school record 84 conference wins in the Big South. The highlights included wins over South Carolina and Clemson as well as a school record 30 Division I wins in the 2014 season, CSU”s first winning season in 18 years. Lake has had 24 former student-athletes reach the Major Leagues and Lake is one of the few who can ever claim to coach players that eventually appeared in the Major League All-Star Game, World Series, and the Super Bowl. In Lake’s 18-year coaching career, he has coached more than 100 players who have gone on to play professional baseball with 31 of those being drafted in the first 10 rounds. Seven players were drafted in the first round.
Lake brings tremendous knowledge of the game of baseball having spent 18 years as a collegiate coach. Prior to becoming head coach at Charleston Southern, Lake served two seasons as assistant at The Citadel, where he was responsible for coaching the hitters and outfielders, and was very involved in recruiting prospective student-athletes. Lake returned to the Lowcountry after three seasons as assistant coach at Ole Miss from 2004-06 where he also responsible for the hitters and outfielders. Ole Miss hosted three NCAA Regionals in Lake’s tenure in Oxford as well as two NCAA Super Regionals. The Rebels also won the SEC West in 2005 and the SEC Tournament in 2006. Prior to his stint at Ole Miss, Lake worked one season at College of Charleston.
Lake began his collegiate coaching career at South Carolina as volunteer assistant to Ray Tanner from 1999-2002. As volunteer assistant with the Gamecocks, Lake coached the outfielders, served as first base coach and assisted with the hitters. In that four-year span, the Gamecocks won three SEC Eastern Division titles, two SEC Championships, reached three NCAA Super Regionals and made it to Omaha and finished as national runner-up in the 2002 season at the College World Series.
“Stuart is a terrific baseball person that will bring a wealth of experience to our program,” said South Carolina head coach Chad Holbrook. “He has eight years of experience as a head coach and he was a tremendous assistant to Coach Tanner and Gamecock baseball in the early 2000s. In addition to being the head coach at Charleston Southern, Stuart also spent time as an assistant coach at Ole Miss and is certainly familiar with the SEC. Stuart will play a prominent role going forward in the day-to-day operation of our program. His responsibilities will include on-campus recruiting, direct liaison to our former players, scouting of opponents, and sharing his vast experiences and knowledge with our current players. He will be a tremendous asset to myself and all of our coaches. We are very excited to have him.”
Lake earned a Bachelor of Science from Charleston Southern in 1994 and a Masters of Arts from the University of South Carolina in 1998. He is married to the former Tracie Smith of Clover, S.C. and they have one son, Hayden.
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South Carolina won the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship in 2010 and 2011 at the College World Series. South Carolina has made 11 College World Series appearances including six times in the last 15 years. In those 11 appearances, the Gamecocks are 32-20 for a .615 winning percentage, that is sixth-best among winning percentage leaders in CWS history. South Carolina is one of three schools in the nation to have reached at least 12 NCAA Super Regionals since 2000 and has the most NCAA Super Regional appearances of the 14 SEC schools since 2000. In addition, the Gamecocks own the second-highest win total in Division I baseball since 2000 (791-332 record) and more conference wins than any SEC team since 2000 (308-198 record). Recently, South Carolina is one of only four schools in the nation to host a NCAA Regional in six of the last seven years.
