Monte Lee returns with Gamecocks to Clemson Friday, not sure of reception he will receive

Monte Lee coached at Clemson for seven years and also spent six years as an assistant with South Carolina previously.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Wed Mar 01 12:43:47 GMT-04:00 2023

Former Tigers head baseball coach Monte Lee returns in garnet and black to Clemson for Friday’s 6 p.m. first pitch that starts the three-game, three-site rivalry series.

Lee was let go in 2022 by Clemson after missing the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season, and he found a home back as an assistant with South Carolina, his stint before he was hired at his alma mater College of Charleston as head coach.

Lee isn’t sure how he'll be received after crossing rivalry lines again.

“Who knows, right? I have no idea,” Lee said in a news conference Wednesday. “I’ve just always tried to live by a very simple principle. Treat people the way I would want to be treated. The people at Clemson were great to me. I’ve had many great relationships with a lot of people. If I get a chance to say hello to them while I’m up there, I’d love to.

“But ultimately, it’s about me going up there trying to help our team win a ballgame and prepare for the Clemson Tigers. So my responsibility and focus will be on our team…”

Lee said he will draw upon his experience of coaching versus his former players at College of Charleston while at Clemson for handling this weekend. He emphasized the relationships built with players over the years in what emotions may come with the rivalry games.

“Ultimately, it’s not going to be about me,” he said. “It’s going to be about our team and what I’m trying to do to help prepare our guys for a tough series. That’s my priority and focus. But ultimately, I’ve been blessed to coach hundreds upon hundreds of kids in my career as a coach.

“I got into coaching to make a difference in young people’s lives and develop relationships with them and try to help them grow in this game and see them have success…When I see those kids, it’s about the relationships that I had with them and how much I care for them as people, even though we’re playing against them, right? So for me, that’s what it’s all about.”

Three 2022 Clemson roster members are with Lee at South Carolina with position players Dylan Brewer and Jonathan French and pitcher Ricky Williams. While Williams hasn’t appeared in a game this season, French has three hits in nine at-bats with a double and one start over seven games, and Brewer has nine at-bats as well with an RBI over two starts and six games.

Lee was asked what advice he would give that group going back to Clemson on Friday.

“We just need to be calm, cool and collected,” Lee said. “Just do everything we can to control our emotions. I think that is the key. And that starts in batting practice, whatever our approach is going to be in that game – we’re going to make sure we gameplan in our practice routine and get a feel for that ballpark.

“But we try to be as loose and as calm as we possibly can, because we know when the National Anthem starts and their starting pitcher goes out there, the emotions will rise a little bit…I think the key for us is don’t let the moment become too big…”

Lee places the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry on a pedestal above every other in the sport.

“Once the game starts, it comes to the competition part, it’s about their players versus our players and it’s about the competition – it’s about the opportunity for both programs and both coaching staffs to be a part of the greatest rivalry in college baseball,” he said. “It’s special. Every pitch of this rivalry weekend is special to the coaches and players and it means a lot to the state of South Carolina. To be a part of it is a special thing.”

The Tigers head to Greenville's Fluor Field to face South Carolina in game two Saturday (1 p.m.) and then go to Columbia's Founders Park on Sunday (1:30 p.m.).