Monte Lee: 'I know what this program can do'
New South Carolina associate coach Monte Lee is a self-proclaimed gut guy.
When he has a good feeling about something—including a new job—he jumps at it.
So when Mark Kingston came calling about bringing Lee back home to South Carolina, it was a “no brainer.”
“It’s the university of South Carolina. It’s pretty simple. I’m a big gut guy. I just trust my gut,” he said. “For me, it’s really that simple. I’ve been here. I know what this program is all about. I know what this program can do.”
Lee spent six seasons at South Carolina and was also part of some of the best teams in program history.
The Gamecocks made the postseason every year he was on staff, making it to four Super Regionals and also two College World Series.
Lee grew up in South Carolina, playing and coaching at Spartanburg Methodist, and also can’t wait to come back.
It might be a little different than he left it in 2008, but the expectations and possibilities haven’t.
“It was an absolute yes coming back here and being part of this program. I have such a tremendous amount of respect for this program, and my experiences here were just absolutely phenomenal,” he said. “That’s why it was a no-brainer to come back.”
Now Lee will also be tasked with developing South Carolina players and recruiting the next wave capable of getting the Gamecocks back to Omaha.
He’s going to take what he soaked in from Ray Tanner and Jim Toman building championship-caliber rosters while applying it to his second stint with the Gamecocks.
“I got a great apprenticeship in watching him do what he did as a recruiter then how he tied in all of us on the coaching staff into that plan. I got a chance to see Ray Tanner in the room selling recruits the deal and I got a chance to do the campus tours with Jim any time we brought a recruit on campus,” Lee said.
“I’m trying to maximize our roster. We know coaching is overrated if you have really good players. You have to have good players if you want to be successful.”
Lee spent the fall learning the roster and now he and the rest of South Carolina’s staff and roster gear up for preseason practice and scrimmages.
But Lee is ready for the challenge.
“My main priority is to get to know the people in the room first. That’s very, very important. For the players to have trust in me they have to know me first. They don’t care how much I know until they know how much I care. That’s the main objective for me right now. Being in the role I’m in, I’m here to serve to lead. That’s really important for me early on, to show the players to lead them by serving them first,” he said.
“The main priority is to develop a relationship with the players and get into a comfort zone and understanding of what we want to try and create and try to do here in the fall.”
