CLEMSON -- After seven seasons, Clemson has decided to part ways with head baseball coach Monte Lee, the school announced Tuesday. A national search for the next head coach will commence immediately.
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The announcement comes one day after the Tigers failed to make the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive year following a shortened-season in 2020 due to Covid-19.
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Said Athletics Director Graham Neff Tuesday:
“Monte and his staff have been nothing but professional in their approach to Clemson Baseball, and we appreciate the manner in which they’ve represented Clemson University. The expectations for Clemson Baseball are very high, and the team’s recent on-field performance has not met those of our administration, our coaching staff, our student-athletes or our loyal fanbase.
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"Clemson Baseball is a proud program, and we, as a department, are committed to doing all we can to return our program to national prominence. We will work with our student-athletes to ensure that the transition process is successful.”
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Academically, the baseball program has registered a perfect 1000 Academic Progress Rate and a 100% Graduation Success Rate in each of the past five cohorts.
A total of 32 Tigers have been drafted 35 times under Lee. The 35 draft picks are 10th most in the nation and third most in the ACC from 2016-21. Prior to his time at Clemson, Lee amassed a 276-145 (.656) record and four berths in the NCAA Tournament in seven seasons at College of Charleston.
Assistant Coach Bradley LeCroy and Director of Operations Brad Owens will oversee the program while the search is conducted.
The Tigers saw improvement in 2022, holding a 35-23 record after a disastrous 25-27 mark in 2021 which represented the program's first losing season since 1957.
Clemson closed its regular season with a series sweep of Boston College, but was just 13-16 in Atlantic Coast Conference play and in need of an impressive showing in last week's conference tournament as a potential bubble team for the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers were blown out in each of their two conference tournament games, falling to North Carolina 9-2 and Virginia Tech 18-6.
Clemson has not hosted a regional since 2018 and has not traveled to the College World Series since 2010, the last year the Tigers finished inside of the postseason top 10.
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