UCI’s Lee hired away

UC Irvine men’s basketball associate head coach Todd Lee, who spent

the last eight seasons as Anteater head coach Pat Douglass’

right-hand man, has been named head coach at Kentucky Wesleyan

College in Owensboro, Ky.

Perennial NCAA Division II power Kentucky Wesleyan has won eight

national titles, the most recent in 2001. The school has been

national runner-up on five other occasions.

Lee, 41, was named associate head coach at UCI in 2001. He played

a major role in the resurgence of the Anteater program that has won

93 games in the past five years and recorded three straight 20-win

seasons (2001-03).

UCI won the school’s first Big West Conference titles in men’s

basketball in 2001 and 2002, advancing to the National Invitation

tournament each of those years.

Lee previously worked with Douglass for three seasons at Cal State

Bakersfield, which went 75-16 in that span and won the 1997 NCAA

Division II championship. “I am very proud of what we have been able

to accomplish in my eight years here at UC Irvine,” Lee said. “I want

to thank Chancellor Ralph Cicerone, Athletic Director Bob Chichester

and Pat Douglass for everything that they have done for me and my

family in my time here.

“The hardest part of all of this is telling the players I am

leaving and I won’t have the opportunity to coach them next year.”

Said Douglass: “We are elated for Todd in that he has reached his

goal of becoming a head coach.

“He has made great contributions to turning UCI’s program around

with his recruiting ability, his basketball savvy, and his endless

energy ...”