Monte Lee

Monte Lee was named the associate head coach/recruiting coordinator for the South Carolina baseball team on Aug. 18, 2022.

In his first season back in Columbia, Lee helped the Gamecock offense to 117 home runs (10th in the country), 380 walks (second in the SEC) and a school-record 107 hit-by-pitches. Carolina had a .408 on-base percentage, 58 stolen bases, 491 runs scored and a .499 slugging percentage. Lee coached Braylen Wimmer, who played shortstop and hit .304 with 11 doubles, 14 home runs and 43 RBI. He also coached Gavin Casas, who hit 19 home runs and had a .569 slugging percentage in his first season with the Gamecocks. Talmadge LeCroy had 10 doubles and 42 RBI and was the MVP of the Clemson series.

The offense had a .411 on-base percentage and 382 walks, which led the country most of the season, in 2024. The Gamecocks hit 101 home runs under Lee’s tutelage and scored 461 runs, which was fifth in the SEC at the end of the regular season. Carolina stole 66 bases in 2024, 16 more than the previous season, led by Blake Jackson’s 16. Cole Messina had 71 RBI, including an SEC Tournament record 16 in Hoover, while joining Ethan Petry with 21 home runs on the year. The Gamecocks had three players in double digits in doubles (Messina 19, Parker Noland 12, Kennedy Jones 10) and four in double digits in home runs (Messina and Petry 21, Dalton Reeves 11, Gavin Casas 10).

Lee, who has had 21 winning seasons in his 22 years as a full-time NCAA coach, most recently was the head coach at Clemson University for seven seasons (2016-22), garnering a 242-136 overall record and leading the Tigers to four NCAA Tournament berths. Lee coached nine All-Americans, including at least one All-American in six of his seven seasons, and had 34 players drafted a total of 38 times at Clemson.  He coached Max Wagner, a Dick Howser Trophy finalist and ACC Player of the Year, in 2022. Clemson won the 2016 ACC Tournament, going 4-0 in Durham, N.C., helping the Tigers to a No. 7 national seed in the NCAA Tournament.  The Tigers then won 42 games in 2017, hosting a regional for the second-straight season. Lee’s first five teams at Clemson all received perfect 1,000 APR scores.

Prior to his time at Clemson, Lee was the head coach of the College of Charleston from 2009-15, guiding the Cougars to a 276-145 overall record. In his seven years at College of Charleston, Lee coached four conference players-of-the-year, two conference pitchers-of-the-year and two conference freshmen-of-the-year. Lee won 200 games at College of Charleston faster than any coach in school history. The College of Charleston advanced to the Lubbock Super Regional in 2014 after winning the Gainesville Regional. He also led the Cougars to NCAA appearances in 2010 and 2015. The 2015 team was ranked in the top-25 for much of the season and finished 20^th in the final USA Today Coaches’ Poll.

Lee is no stranger to Columbia, as he was an assistant coach with the Gamecocks under Ray Tanner from 2003-08. Lee helped the Gamecocks to the NCAA Regional all six years as an assistant, including College World Series appearances in 2003 and 2004 and Super Regional berths his four of his first five seasons. The 2004 team won 53 games, including the 2004 SEC Tournament, going a perfect 4-0 in Hoover. The Gamecocks won an SEC East Division championship in 2003, going 19-11 in league play. Lee also coached Justin Smoak, who set school records for home runs (62), RBI (207), walks (151) and total bases (485).

He began his coaching career as an assistant (2001-02) at Spartanburg Methodist College. The 2002 squad totaled a school-record 51 wins, while the 2001 team played in the NJCAA College World Series. Lee also was the head coach of the South Carolina Diamond Devils AAU team in 2002 after serving as an assistant coach in 2001.

Lee was a standout outfielder for the Cougars from 1996-99. In 206 career games, he hit .333 with 156 runs, 240 hits, 50 doubles, six triples, 22 homers, 150 RBIs, 88 walks and 66 steals. He was in the top 10 in school history in career doubles, total bases and RBIs. In 2004, he was inducted as an inaugural member of College of Charleston’s Baseball Wall of Fame at Patriots Point Stadium.

He became the first position player drafted in Cougar history when the St. Louis Cardinals selected him in the 39th round in 1999. He played 82 games over two years (1999,00) in the minors.

Lee, who received academic all-district honors as a senior, earned his bachelor of science degree in elementary education from College of Charleston in 2000 after playing four seasons of baseball and two years of football at Lugoff-Elgin High School in Lugoff, S.C.