Lee takes command at Wesleyan
Sep 08
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT – C.J. Lee hasn’t been a head basketball coach, but he knows he can learn.
From his experience as a player on the biggest stages, then as part of the support staff of a major program and as a assistant coach, he’s had success in college basketball.
Now he’s at the head of his own high school program, as Lee joins the Wesleyan Christian boys basketball team – one of the area’s best in recent years – as its head coach.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” he said Thursday on his first day with the team prior to its shootaround. “It’s a blessing to be affiliated with a school like Wesleyan Christian Academy.
“Obviously over the last decade, as someone who’s been recruiting nationally and regionally along the East Coast, you know about Wesleyan Christian and the private-school league in North Carolina because of the players who have come out of here.
“So, it really is an exciting opportunity, and I’m looking forward to get started here today.”
Lee comes to High Point after four years as an assistant coach for Mike Maker at Marist, a Division I program in Poughkeepsie, New York. Prior to that, he spent four years on John Beilein’s staff at Michigan.
He was first the program’s administrative specialist and then its director of program personnel. So, just being around the successes and the challenges at that level is an experience he looks to pull from as a coach.
“You have to be prepared when you enter into a college program,” said Lee, who also played for Tommy Amaker at Michigan. “It’s one thing I really want to take a lot of pride in, if we’re fortunate enough to have student-athletes who graduate and go on to the next level, that they’re ready from day 1.
“That was something that I was not ready for. Academically, I was; athletically, I was not – and that’s humbling. We’re all going to a get to a point where what we’ve always done doesn’t work. And the question is: What do you do then? So, that’s something I’ve had some experience with at Michigan and as a coach.”
Plus, he played in college – first at Manhattan, which is a D-I program in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and then at Michigan, where, as a redshirt senior, he was co-captain and played in the NCAA Tournament.
“I wasn’t a great player – I was a good player,” said Lee, who grew up a Michigan fan. “I would say I was a mid-major player, but I had high-major intangibles. I was a leader, I could run team, and I could manage a program. So, I was kind of a coach on the floor.
“Whether it was in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, whether it in was the Big 10 Conference – I’ve probably occupied every single role you could have on the team. The freshman who wasn’t ready and didn’t get to play much. The sophomore who was champing at the bit to prove himself and get an opportunity.
To starting and not coming out of the game and playing in the NCAA Tournament.
“So, I think I’ll have some insight into those roles. Whether you’re the last person on the bench or a starter who never comes out of the game, I think I’ll be able to give some advice and some counsel to every person on the roster.”
So, coming to Wesleyan – which won NCISAA 3A state titles in 2013 and 2014 while reaching the championship game five of the last six years under Keith Gatlin – is a challenge he’s prepared to accept, he said.
Plus, beyond the basketball court, it’s a great fit for Lee, who was an assistant coach with Athletes in Action this summer in Brazil, and his wife, Jocelyn, who recently was hired as an assistant professor of Human Development and Family Studies at UNCG.
“First, the Triad is well-known nationally because of the players who’ve come from here,” he said. “And then when we moved here, you really kind of look around and get a sense of what’s going on from a basketball sense, while I’m still learning, Wesleyan Christian’s an academy everyone knows about.
“They’ve had great success over the past decade under Coach Gatlin in particular. At this point in my career, I was looking for an opportunity to be a head coach, and I was looking at all levels. But what I found was that it was the perfect mix of my love for Christ and my love of basketball.”
The process took a little time after Gatlin stepped down in late July to join Tubby Smith’s staff at High Point University, Wesleyan athletic director Glen Foster said, because the school wanted to find the best fit as well.
The pool of candidates was good, Foster said, but because the school doesn’t have a teaching position available at the moment it narrowed their choices. And eventually they found what they were looking for in Lee.
“His Christian background combined with his basketball experience is really neat because he knows the college game,” Foster said. “He’s played, he’s been there and he’s worked under a couple of really good coaches. Michigan, even though it’s Big 10 and not ACC,” he said with a laugh, “everyone knows Michigan.
“John Beilein’s been around. And for him to have worked under him, you’re going to pick up a lot of things, a lot of drills and lot of experience. And it’s fun to now be a head coach and put that into action. Everyone has to have a start at some point in time, and he’s far from a rookie. He might be new to being a head coach, but he’s far from being a rookie in the game of basketball.”
The Trojans, who have moved up to the NCISAA 4A level and will be independent from a conference, begin their season with their alumni event Nov. 9 before starting play Nov. 16 against Village Christian.
“The goal is to hit the ground running as best as we can,” Lee said. “Obviously, I have to get the lay of the land and figure out the landscape locally, then regionally and throughout the state. This will very much be an introductory year for me in a sense. But this program has competed at a championship level.
“Do I believe we can compete at a championship level this year? I don’t know – I don’t know this group yet. But certainly that’s going to be the goal. I think that right now I have to get to know these guys and build these relationships first. And then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.
“But, as far as what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it, our mission statement and program identity, I have some thoughts on that. Luckily, I’ve had experience at the college level and been able to write these things down. So, I’m looking forward to being able to put these things into practice.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com
@HPEmichael
Sep 08
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT – C.J. Lee hasn’t been a head basketball coach, but he knows he can learn.
From his experience as a player on the biggest stages, then as part of the support staff of a major program and as a assistant coach, he’s had success in college basketball.
Now he’s at the head of his own high school program, as Lee joins the Wesleyan Christian boys basketball team – one of the area’s best in recent years – as its head coach.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” he said Thursday on his first day with the team prior to its shootaround. “It’s a blessing to be affiliated with a school like Wesleyan Christian Academy.
“Obviously over the last decade, as someone who’s been recruiting nationally and regionally along the East Coast, you know about Wesleyan Christian and the private-school league in North Carolina because of the players who have come out of here.
“So, it really is an exciting opportunity, and I’m looking forward to get started here today.”
Lee comes to High Point after four years as an assistant coach for Mike Maker at Marist, a Division I program in Poughkeepsie, New York. Prior to that, he spent four years on John Beilein’s staff at Michigan.
He was first the program’s administrative specialist and then its director of program personnel. So, just being around the successes and the challenges at that level is an experience he looks to pull from as a coach.
“You have to be prepared when you enter into a college program,” said Lee, who also played for Tommy Amaker at Michigan. “It’s one thing I really want to take a lot of pride in, if we’re fortunate enough to have student-athletes who graduate and go on to the next level, that they’re ready from day 1.
“That was something that I was not ready for. Academically, I was; athletically, I was not – and that’s humbling. We’re all going to a get to a point where what we’ve always done doesn’t work. And the question is: What do you do then? So, that’s something I’ve had some experience with at Michigan and as a coach.”
Plus, he played in college – first at Manhattan, which is a D-I program in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and then at Michigan, where, as a redshirt senior, he was co-captain and played in the NCAA Tournament.
“I wasn’t a great player – I was a good player,” said Lee, who grew up a Michigan fan. “I would say I was a mid-major player, but I had high-major intangibles. I was a leader, I could run team, and I could manage a program. So, I was kind of a coach on the floor.
“Whether it was in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, whether it in was the Big 10 Conference – I’ve probably occupied every single role you could have on the team. The freshman who wasn’t ready and didn’t get to play much. The sophomore who was champing at the bit to prove himself and get an opportunity.
To starting and not coming out of the game and playing in the NCAA Tournament.
“So, I think I’ll have some insight into those roles. Whether you’re the last person on the bench or a starter who never comes out of the game, I think I’ll be able to give some advice and some counsel to every person on the roster.”
So, coming to Wesleyan – which won NCISAA 3A state titles in 2013 and 2014 while reaching the championship game five of the last six years under Keith Gatlin – is a challenge he’s prepared to accept, he said.
Plus, beyond the basketball court, it’s a great fit for Lee, who was an assistant coach with Athletes in Action this summer in Brazil, and his wife, Jocelyn, who recently was hired as an assistant professor of Human Development and Family Studies at UNCG.
“First, the Triad is well-known nationally because of the players who’ve come from here,” he said. “And then when we moved here, you really kind of look around and get a sense of what’s going on from a basketball sense, while I’m still learning, Wesleyan Christian’s an academy everyone knows about.
“They’ve had great success over the past decade under Coach Gatlin in particular. At this point in my career, I was looking for an opportunity to be a head coach, and I was looking at all levels. But what I found was that it was the perfect mix of my love for Christ and my love of basketball.”
The process took a little time after Gatlin stepped down in late July to join Tubby Smith’s staff at High Point University, Wesleyan athletic director Glen Foster said, because the school wanted to find the best fit as well.
The pool of candidates was good, Foster said, but because the school doesn’t have a teaching position available at the moment it narrowed their choices. And eventually they found what they were looking for in Lee.
“His Christian background combined with his basketball experience is really neat because he knows the college game,” Foster said. “He’s played, he’s been there and he’s worked under a couple of really good coaches. Michigan, even though it’s Big 10 and not ACC,” he said with a laugh, “everyone knows Michigan.
“John Beilein’s been around. And for him to have worked under him, you’re going to pick up a lot of things, a lot of drills and lot of experience. And it’s fun to now be a head coach and put that into action. Everyone has to have a start at some point in time, and he’s far from a rookie. He might be new to being a head coach, but he’s far from being a rookie in the game of basketball.”
The Trojans, who have moved up to the NCISAA 4A level and will be independent from a conference, begin their season with their alumni event Nov. 9 before starting play Nov. 16 against Village Christian.
“The goal is to hit the ground running as best as we can,” Lee said. “Obviously, I have to get the lay of the land and figure out the landscape locally, then regionally and throughout the state. This will very much be an introductory year for me in a sense. But this program has competed at a championship level.
“Do I believe we can compete at a championship level this year? I don’t know – I don’t know this group yet. But certainly that’s going to be the goal. I think that right now I have to get to know these guys and build these relationships first. And then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.
“But, as far as what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it, our mission statement and program identity, I have some thoughts on that. Luckily, I’ve had experience at the college level and been able to write these things down. So, I’m looking forward to being able to put these things into practice.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com
@HPEmichael
