It’s just a matter of time for UCI’s Lee

Steve Virgen

Father. Husband. Associate head coach. Scout. Recruiter.

Schedule-maker. Players’ confidant. These are the many hats of UC

Irvine’s Todd Lee. Soon, a new hat may come to Lee: NCAA Division I

head coach.

It’s only a matter of time. That’s the statement, the phrase,

which rings in the back of Lee’s mind.

This past summer, Eric Musselman was hired as head coach of the

Golden State Warriors and became the youngest coach in the NBA.

Musselman put together his coaching staff as his first order of

business. He asked Lee to be one of his assistants. Lee worked as an

assistant to Musselman in the CBA in 1993 and 1994, when they

compiled records of 44-12, and 37-19.

Lee is coming up with the defensive strategy for Cal State

Fullerton, which now has Pape Sow back and will be facing the

Anteaters tonight at 7:05 at the Bren Events Center.

“I tried to get (Lee) in the staff up here,” Musselman said. “He

felt that he was in a great situation. I think the timing wasn’t

right.”

Lee is on a different schedule, where the timing to become a

Division I head coach is more unpredictable than calling this year’s

Big West champion.

“I want to be a Division I coach, that’s my goal,” Lee said. “When

and where that happens, in this business, it’s all timing. I’m trying

to get this program the best it can be and then go from there. I’m

confident it’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of timing.”

Lee, in his sixth season at UC Irvine, has helped the Anteaters

become a winning program. UCI was the doormat of Big West basketball.

It was the unknown of the college basketball world. But, the

Anteaters have won two straight Big West regular-season titles and

they are also building off the success of back-to-back 20-win

seasons.

Lee has been in charge of recruiting, player development, and

scheduling. He has been UCI head coach Pat Douglass’ right-hand man

for the past nine years. They won an NCAA Division II championship at

Cal State Bakersfield. Then, they took the leap to Irvine, where the

Anteaters had just completed a 1-25 season.

“The faith he had in me and in himself that we can turn this

around, I will always appreciate that,” Douglass said. “I will always

appreciate his loyalty and dedication. He’s a tireless worker. He

spends endless hours observing tape.”

Douglass, like many who know Lee, believes the UC Irvine associate

head coach is prepared to rise to the next level. If Douglass were

ever to leave UCI, Lee might take over. The same scenario happened in

Bakersfield and Eastern Montana, where a Douglass assistant took over

as head coach.

Lee could also become a head coach of a different program, if the

timing was right.

“Given the opportunity to be a head coach, I don’t think there

would be any major adjustments on his part,” Douglass said of Lee.

“He’s assumed all the responsibilities it would take to be a head

coach. We need to continue to be successful, to give him an

opportunity.”

Through their nine years together, Douglass and Lee have learned

to feed off each other’s instincts. They share similar personality

traits, as they never show too much disappointment and they never

display over-enthusiasm.

When, they came to UCI they were well aware of the task at hand

and they attacked the challenge by devising a plan. One facet: they

recruited players they would be able to develop and players who would

fit in at UCI. That’s been the case for players like Jerry Green and

Adam Parada.

“We’ve been together nine years now, so we know each other very

well,” Lee said. “When he asks for advice or certain things about the

team, I have an advantage because I know already what he’s thinking.

It’s hard to explain how much I’ve learned from him. I’ve learned

something from him everyday. Not only on the floor, but also how to

be a head coach because he does share everything with me as far as

dealing with administration, dealing with media, how to conduct

yourself. In nine years, I learned a lot. It’s hard to put into words

how much I’ve learned.”

Lee, after coaching two years in the CBA, was eager to get back

into the college ranks. He had coached at the University of San

Diego. Before that, he volunteered at Southwestern Community College.

He worked summer basketball camps at USD and eventually was hired as

the third assistant to Hank Egan.

Egan’s top assistant left the team before the season started and

Lee learned quickly and was eventually hired in the vacant spot. Lee

later went on to the CBA.

At a pre-draft NBA camp in Chicago, Lee talked with Henry Clark,

who was Douglass’ assistant at Bakersfield and was planning to leave.

Lee called Douglass and the relationship of head coach and assistant

began.

“He’s one of the best coaches around,” Lee said of Douglass. “When

we got here, coming off a 1-25 season, then four years later going on

to win 25 games, that’s a testament to how good a coach he is.”

Douglass and Lee were a natural fit because they both shared a

strong passion for the game and an intense competitive fire.

“He has that search of knowledge and enjoys the need to improve,”

Douglass said of Lee. “He has great leadership of the players. He was

very instrumental in developing Jerry Green. He worked with him on a

one-on-one basis.

Lee heard about Green from a friend who is now an assistant at

Long Beach State. Green was a star at Pomona High. He later became

the Big West Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002.

Douglass redshirted Green in his first year at UCI, and that’s

when the coaches went to work and Green followed suit.

“(Lee) helped me so much,” said Green, who is now playing

professionally in Germany. “We have a great relationship. He did so

much for me. I can’t thank him enough. He’s an excellent coach. I

know he’ll make an excellent head coach.”

Interestingly enough, Green and Lee are in similar situations. At

this point in their working lives, it’s all about perseverance. Green

plays one game a week in Germany. He spends his non-game days working

on his shot and moves, lifting weights and training toward gaining an

opportunity to play in the NBA.

“Coach Lee really worked on things to get me better, as far as

team basketball and learning new moves,” Green said. “He has all the

tools and the knowledge. Maybe in a few years he will be a head

coach. I can’t wait to see him walking the sidelines.”

Green and Lee still keep in touch. They talk on the phone at least

once a week. Relationships with players, goes a long way in college

basketball, that’s why Musselman believes Lee is on his way to

leading a team.

“He’s definitely ready to go,” Musselman said. “It’s just a matter

of being in the right place and the right time. He’s going to be a

Division I coach and when he gets the job he will be very

successful.”

Musselman depended on Lee in the fall. He asked Lee to come to the

Warriors’ training camp.

“I wanted to get his idea on some of our situations,” Musselman

said. “When you trust somebody like that, you openly take criticism.”

Musselman also knows Lee is willing to make sacrifices.

During the season, there’s hardly free time for Lee. He arrives to

work before 8 a.m. and he doesn’t return home until 6:30 p.m. That’s

when Carson, 4, and Jackson, 2, are eagerly awaiting to play with

their dad. Lee spends time with his sons for about two hours, then

it’s time for their baths and then for bed.

“After the season, it’s not like that,” Lee said. “I do my best so

I can be with the boys. You want to spend time with them. My wife

makes me do enough around the house. We try to keep tings even. I

give them a bath every night and put them to bed.”

After the children are asleep, Lee works the phones for recruiting

or scheduling, or he watches games on videotape. His wife, Kim, also

rests. Lee’s day ends just before midnight.

The next morning, he starts all over again with the phrase on the

back of his mind: It’s only a matter of time.