When Mike Dee was named the University of Illinois at Chicago's fourth head baseball coach in school history on July 30, 1998, there was nowhere to for the program to go but up. Nine years and over 300 wins later, Dee has rebuilt the program into a perennial Horizon League powerhouse and has pushed the Flames into the national scene following three NCAA Regional berths in the past five seasons. Under Dee's direction the Flames have posted eight consecutive 30-win seasons while bringing the last six Horizon League regular season titles home to the west side of Chicago. UIC has won three Horizon League tournament titles in the last five seasons (2003, 2005, 2007) while earning automatic berths to NCAA Regional play during each of those campaigns, serving as the first three trips to NCAA postseason competition in the history of the UIC baseball program. More history was made this past season. The Flames won their first-ever NCAA Regional game with a 4-1 victory over 16th-ranked and top-seeded Long Beach State at the Dirtbags' home park on June 1, 2007. The accomplishments of the UIC baseball program have earned the Flames' skipper an unprecedented seven Horizon League Coach of the Year awards, garnering the honor in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Along with an improved product on the field, numerous other facets of the program have undergone significant improvements. Undoubtedly the biggest addition was the Peggy Colvin Baseball Center for Excellence, a state-of-the-art 4,690-square-foot clubhouse exclusive to the UIC baseball team that features a players locker room, coaches offices, a study laboratory, a video lounge and numerous other amenities. New lights, FieldTurf, refurbished dugouts and a vast list of other improvements to Les Miller Field have also taken place under Dee's watch, and much more is in the works. Since their arrival to UIC a decade ago, Dee and his staff have been able to snatch up many of the top local and regional recruits, improve the Flames' strength of schedule and expand the season to three-and-a-half months to better prepare for the Horizon League regular season and the league tournament. In order to strengthen the Flames' schedule, Dee has looked no further than the Big Ten. Over the past seven seasons UIC has compiled a record of 21-10 against Big Ten opponents, including a three-game sweep of Michigan in 2004, a two-game sweep of Iowa in 2005 and wins over Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State and Northwestern in the last two years. In addition to stout Big Ten opposition, the Flames have battled the likes of national powers such as Vanderbilt, Long Beach State, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, and numerous other college baseball giants in the past few years. UIC will continue to take on stiff competition, with Vanderbilt and Tulane just two traditionally-tough teams on the slate in 2008. Dee is also very adept to developing talent. Over 50 of his former players, including 29 pitchers, have gone on to professional careers. In 2006 UIC alum Curtis Granderson, who played for Dee from 2000-2002, became the first Flames player to start for a major league club on Opening Day when he manned centerfield for the Detroit Tigers. Granderson played a big role during the Tigers' magical 2006 campaign, helping bring an American League Championship and World Series berth back to Motown for the first time since 1984.
Last year Dee saw pitchers Ryan Zink and Zach Peterson move on to professional baseball when Zink was drafted by the New York Yankees and Peterson signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Royals. This marked the seventh consecutive year that the Flames have sent at least one player to the professional ranks, following Steve Carlson (New York Yankees, 2001), Granderson (Detroit Tigers, 2002), Wes Gilliam (Arizona Diamondbacks, 2002), Kevin Ryan (San Diego Padres, 2002), Kevin Nelson (New York Yankees, 2003), David Haehnel (Baltimore Orioles, 2004), Jordan DeVoir (New York Yankees, 2004), Ryan Gehring (Minnesota Twins, 2004), Mike Hughes (Anaheim Angels, 2004), Nelson Gord (Schaumburg Flyers, 2004; Houston Astros, 2007), Bryan Russo (Schaumburg Flyers, 2004) and Justin Johnson (Baltimore Orioles, 2006). Dee, who came to UIC after serving the previous 11 seasons as the pitching coach for the University of Minnesota, immediately imparted his knowledge upon his pitching staff and his hurlers have responded in kind. Over the past nine seasons the UIC pitching staff has finished first or second in the Horizon League for team ERA and finished in the top 10 in the nation for ERA in 2002 and 2003. During his 11-year tenure at Minnesota, Dee had his staff finish first or second in the Big Ten for team ERA in seven of his last nine years as the Golden Gophers compiled a 405-254 (.615) record while registering a 190-101 (.653) ledger against Big Ten foes. In 1997, Dee's pitchers set a school record as they fanned 406 batters in 444.1 innings of work, led by 110 strikeouts from Mike Diebolt, a 1997 draft pick of the Detroit Tigers. Dee's 1993 squad set a then-school record with 43 wins and still owns the current record of 15 saves for a single season. Minnesota captured the Big Ten Tournament title four times during Dee's tenure and earned the regular season championship twice, in 1988 and 1992. The Golden Gophers qualified for the NCAA Tournament seven times while Dee was an assistant, including as recently as 1998. In addition to his coaching duties with the Golden Gophers, Dee also served as the chief executive officer for the Minnesota Baseball Instructional School in Minneapolis. In that position, he handled all staff hiring/training, marketing and scheduling and all business accounting. Under Dee's direction, the business grew into one of the largest baseball camps in the United States. Dee spent the first 17 years of his life raised in the Chicagoland area and was an all-state selection as a high school junior at Benet Academy in Lisle, Ill., before finishing his prep career at Aquinas High School in LaCrosse, Wis., where he garnered all-state honors. Dee attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he was a three-time letterwinner and an NAIA All-America selection following his junior and senior seasons. As a senior in 1979, he helped lead the Indians to a fourth-place finish at the NAIA College World Series. Following his collegiate career, Dee played one season in the Milwaukee Brewers organization before entering the coaching ranks. He returned to Aquinas High School and, as head coach for six years, had his squads compile a 100-26 record over this period. Dee led Aquinas to six straight state tournament appearances and won the Wisconsin state title four consecutive years (1984-87). Following the 1987 season, Dee was named the Wisconsin State High School Coach of the Year. The following season, Dee joined the Golden Gophers coaching staff. For his accomplishments at Aquinas and his continued success at the collegiate level, Dee was inducted into the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in February of 2006. In addition to coaching, Dee has also served as a featured clinician at over 100 clinics nationwide, including the National Baseball Convention in 1991, 2001 and 2006.
MIKE DEE'S CAREER RECORDYear Record Winning % 1999 18-30 .375 2000 33-26 .559 2001 32-28 .533 2002 39-16 .709 2003 39-18 .684 2004 36-21 .632 2005 38-21-1 .633 2006 35-20 .636 2007 35-21 .625 Totals 304-201-1 .602 |
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