Todd Lee enters his fourth season as head coach of the men’s basketball program in the 2021-22 season. A University of South Dakota alum, Lee has garnered a national title and multiple championships throughout a prestigious coaching career. On April 4, 2018 Lee was named the 19
th head coach in South Dakota history.
In his third season at USD, Lee guided a trio of Coyotes to all-Summit League honors in Stanley Umude (1st) A.J. Plitzuweit (1st) and Xavier Fuller (HM). Lee also earned the Summit League Coach of the Year honors while Plitzuweit earned the Newcomer of the Year honor as well as a spot on the all-Newcomer team. The Coyotes started conference play 9-0 for the first time since the 1992-93 season and reeled off 10 straight wins for its longest streak since the 2009-10 campaign. Lee's squad also knocked off South Dakota State in Frost Arena for the first time since the 1999-00 season, snapping SDSU's 32 game conference home win streak.
As a team, South Dakota boasted a 7-2 home record and a 11-4 record in conference play. Lee earned his first win at the conference tournament after the Yotes earned the No. 2 seed in the Summit League Tournament and defeated Western Illinois in the quarterfinals. South Dakota was one of two schools in the nation to have two different players (Plitzuweit & Umude) score 37 points or more in a Division I game in 2020-21.
Under Lee, Umude flourished recording the fourth most points in a game with 41 in the nation, earned NABC all-District second team honors and finished the season as the 10th leading scorer in the country and fifth in field goals made. He is the only Coyote since the program went Division I in 2008 to score over 21 points per game. He ended his career 11th in program history in points.
The Coyotes finished the season ranked 8th in the nation in 3-point FG percentage, 14th in the nation in free throw percentage, 15th in the nation in turnover percentage. In the Summit League, the Yotes ranked first in free throw percentage and defensive field goal percentage.
In his second season at USD, he guided Tyler Hagedorn to first-team all-Summit League honors after coming off a redshirt season. Hagedorn also earned NABC all-District 12 first-team honors and was a two-time Summit League Player of the Month and two-time Summit League Player of the Week. Stanley Umude earned second-team all-Summit League honors. Umude also became the first Coyote to garner preseason Summit League Player of the Year honors.
As a team, the Coyotes earned a 13-2 home record and recorded 20 wins in the 2019-20 season. USD had an eight game overall win streak as well as a seven game conference win streak in 2019-20, the longest such streaks since joining the Summit League. The Yotes also finished as one of 11 teams in the nation that had five starters average 10 points or more on the season.
The team finished the season ranked sixth in the nation in both FG percentage and 3-point percentage. USD also found some success from the charity stripe, ranking 27
th in the nation in free throw attempts and 36
th in the nation in free throw percentage. The offense ranked fourth in the nation with 1.021 points per possession on the season.
In his first year at the helm of USD, he guided sophomore Stanley Umude to first-team all-Summit League honors after increasing his points per game output by 13.3 points over his freshman campaign to 14.4 points per contest. That number led the nation for all sophomores over their rookie season. Senior Trey Burch-Manning and junior Triston Simpson each earned an honorable mention to the Summit League teams while junior Cody Kelley garnered all-newcomer team accolades.
As a team, Lee’s defense led the Summit League with the fewest points allowed per game at just 71.2 while the Yotes ranked sixth in the nation in fewest turnovers.
A native of Huron, South Dakota, Lee graduated from South Dakota in 1986 with a degree in business administration. He received his master’s degree in education from Azusa Pacific in 2003.
Lee spent five seasons as the associate head coach at Grand Canyon University, helping the Lopes to a 103-58 record. He served under former NBA All-Star Dan Majerle, and accumulated 81 wins during the four-year transition to Division I, beginning in Lee’s first year with GCU. The number of wins are the most by any program that has made the leap into Division I.
Majerle has stated several times that one of the smartest things he did as a head coach was hire Lee as his associate head coach. Lee prepared for each game as if he were the head coach with Majerle giving him complete control of the defense.
Grand Canyon totaled 22 wins in 2017-18, the third-straight year with 22 wins or more, and advanced to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championship game. The Lopes finished in the top three of the WAC in all five seasons with Lee and made four consecutive postseason appearances.
In his five years at GCU, Lee mentored five first team all-WAC selections, four second team honorees, four all-defensive team selections and a WAC Freshman of the Year. Additionally, Josh Braun, a three-time all-conference honoree, was a three-time Academic All-American, including two first-team nods.
Prior to his time at Grand Canyon, Lee compiled a 154-81 record and competed in five-consecutive NCAA tournaments in eight seasons as the head coach at Kentucky Wesleyan. Highlighting his run was a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2012, a No. 1 national ranking, ending the season ranked in the top-25 on four occasions and 14-0 starts in consecutive seasons. Over his final six seasons, the Panthers averaged 22 wins and had a .736 win percentage (134-48).
Lee coached five first-team all-GLVC selections and 14 total all-conference performers including Jeff Fahnbulleh, the 2007-08 GLVC Player of the Year. Lee was named the GLVC Coach of the Year in 2008, the NABC Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2010 and a finalist for the prestigious Clarence ‘Big House’ Gaines Division II National Coach of the Year in 2012.
He collected his 100
th-career victory when the Panthers defeated host Wisconsin-Parkside 81-73 in overtime on Jan. 2, 2011.
Lee owns a coaching career that spans 20 years at the Division I level, 11 at Division II, two in the pros and two at the junior college level.
He spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at UC-Irvine with the final four as associate head coach under Pat Douglass. The Anteaters claimed a pair of Big West Conference Championships and captured three-straight 20 win seasons for the first time program history.
UC-Irvine also played in the National Invitation Tournament in 2001 and 2002.
Lee and Douglas went to Irvine after three years at CSU-Bakersfield, compiling a 75-16 record and capturing the 1997 NCAA Division II National Championship. In all three years, the Roadrunners advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Lee spent two years as an assistant coach for the Rapid City Thrillers of the CBA under current Arkansas head coach, and former head coach of the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors, Eric Musselman. While with the Thrillers, Lee organized and coached the first CBA or NBA professional basketball team to tour China and compete against the Chinese National Army, posting a 5-0 record in 1992.
Prior to his return trip to his home state, Lee was an assistant coach at the University of San Diego from 1989-1992 under Hank Egan, a legend in the coaching community. Egan, who gave Gregg Popovich his first coaching job as an assistant at the Air Force Academy, went on to be an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Egan’s coaching tree not only includes Lee, but also current Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown, David Fizdale, the head coach of the New York Knicks, Randy Bennett, the head coach of the Saint Mary's Gaels and Neal Meyer, the Associate Vice President of Basketball Operations – EMEA for the NBA and former assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers, along with Musselman, who just led the Nevada Wolfpack into the Sweet 16 of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Lee began his coach career as an assistant at Southwestern College in 1987.
Lee has three sons, Carson, Jackson and Peyton.
Todd Lee Fast Facts
Hometown: Huron, South Dakota
Children: Carson, Jackson and Peyton
Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, South Dakota; Master’s Degree in Education, Azusa Pacific
First Victory: Nov. 22, 2005 vs. Oakland City, 86-72
100
th Victory: Jan. 2, 2011 at Wisconsin-Parkside, 81-73 (OT)
200th Victory: Feb. 27, 2021 vs. North Dakota State, 80-71
Head Coaching Highlights
Five-Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances
2012 NCAA Regional Finalist
2007-08 GLVC Coach of the Year
2009-10 NABC Midwest Coach of the Year
Finalist for Clarence ‘Big House’ Gaines Division II National Coach of the Year
2021 Summit League Coach of the Year
What They're Saying About Lee
"The most important hire when I got this job was get Todd Lee. He has been huge as far as establishing our culture in five short years and a lot of the success goes to Todd and his dedication to coaching and tireless work ethic. He will be greatly missed and is a great hire for South Dakota."
-- Dan Majerle, Grand Canyon head coach
"Todd Lee is known in the coaching fraternity as a star. He is an incredible X and O coach, as well as having a magnetic personality. He has a unique background having coached both at a collegiate and professional level. He will have tremendous success at South Dakota. He is one of the best coaches I have ever been around."
-- Eric Musselman, Arkansas head coach
"I have known Coach Lee for close to 30 years. He was an assistant at San Diego where I played and we are still very close. He has won big everywhere he has coached and he will win big at South Dakota. He is a tremendous coach but an even better person!"
-- Mike Brown, Golden State Warriors assistant coach
"I have known Todd for almost 30 years and wherever he has gone, programs have gotten better. He is a high-character guy with a wide range of contacts with great knowledge of the game."
-- Jamie Dixon, TCU head coach
"Congratulations to the University of South Dakota on hiring Todd Lee. Todd has worked in basketball nearly 30 years in both the collegiate and professional ranks. He has successful head coaching experience and was very instrumental in Grand Canyon's transition to Division I. Todd will give everything he has to make South Dakota basketball successful."
-- Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's head coach
"We are very happy for Todd. He did a fabulous job at Grand Canyon. Five years ago, he was hired as the associate head coach because of his experience and track record of success. He groomed Dan and showed him the ropes to being a college coach. He was great to be around and a real professional with a great work ethic. He did whatever it would take to get the job done. He is a great hire for the University of South Dakota."
-- Jerry Colangelo, former President of USA Basketball
