SPARTANBURG, S.C. –
College of Charleston Coach Monte Lee and Samford coach Casey Dunn have been
named to Baseball America’s list of the top college baseball head coaches under
40 when the list was released on Thursday.
Last month, Perfect Game picked Lee and Dunn as two of the
nation’s “Top 10 Rising Coaches,” attesting to the respect for the duo among
the media and their peers.
Entering his fifth season with the Cougars, Lee has posted a
156-85 record for a winning percentage of .647 with trips to NCAA Regionals in
2010 and 2012. Last season, the Cougars won a share of the Southern Conference
regular-season title and an at-large berth to the NCAA Gainesville Regional.
The Cougars have finished in the top five in the nation in
home runs in each of Lee’s four years, and have garnered conference SoCon Player,
Pitcher or Freshman of the Year honors every year that Lee has been at the
helm. In 2012, Marty Gantt and Christian Powell won Player and Pitcher of the
Year nods, respectively, for the first award sweep in program history.
Under Lee’s tutelage, 17 CofC players have been drafted or
signed professional baseball contracts, while seven different players were
named All-Americans, including Daniel Aldrich, the 2011 Collegiate Baseball
National Freshman of the Year.
A former CofC baseball player himself, Lee graduated from
the College in 2000 and was an assistant coach at South Carolina from 2002-08.
He is enshrined in the College of Charleston baseball Wall of Fame.
College of Charleston will open the 2013 season on Friday,
Feb. 15, at Patriots Point against Xavier.
Dunn has guided Samford to the top six single-season win
totals in program history. His 2012 squad holds the school record with 41 wins,
to go along with the program’s first-ever Southern Conference tournament title
and NCAA tournament appearance.
The 2011 team held the previous record for wins with 37,
reaching the SoCon tournament title game for the first time. Dunn has led his
team to at least 31 wins in six of his first eight years as the Bulldogs’ head
coach. Prior to Dunn’s arrival, Samford had never won 30 games in back-to-back
seasons in the program’s history.
Dunn and the Bulldogs open the 2013 season on Feb. 15, when
Samford plays host to Youngstown State at Joe Lee Griffin Field.