Former McMurry University Vice President for Student Affairs and Intercollegiate Athletics Sam Ferguson did not have to look very far to find the third head coach of the War Hawks baseball program's modern era, officially naming Josh Lee to the position on June 2, 2022. In his first season at the helm, he tutored 11 all-American Southwest Conference scholar-athletes including one first teamer.
Lee, a former McMurry standout and minor leaguer, joined the coaching staff as an assistant in August 2019 under previous head coach John Byington. Byington stepped away from the program following the 2022 season and handed the reigns over to Lee. He played at McMurry from 2001-04 and holds the distinction of McM’s only two-time American Southwest Conference Player of the Year, winning the award in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The Roseville, Calif. native stood out both as a pitcher and a power hitting first baseman, helping his team to conference titles in 2001 and 2004.
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Adding to his accolades as a player, Lee was named a second team All-American in 2004 and made the all-ASC team in all four seasons. He is one of three McM players in history to hit for the cycle and ranks top ten all-time in career hits, games played, homers, RBI, total bases, slugging, walks, victories, games started, innings pitched, strikeouts and ERA. He holds the school record for complete games with 17. Lee, who also won the 2001 ASC Freshman of the Year, was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 30th round of the 2004 MLB June Amateur Draft. In 2005, he played in 104 games for the West Michigan Whitecaps on the A level and had seven homers, 14 doubles, 63 RBI and 35 runs scored.
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Following his time in the minors, Lee went on to a successful coaching career with stints at Southwestern, UT-San Antonio and prior stints with McMurry in 2006 and from 2008-09. In 2008, Lee helped McMurry win its fourth ASC title in school history.
Outside of collegiate coaching, Lee instituted the Texas Angels Baseball Club in 2012. A successful travel ball club with teams in San Antonio and West Texas ranging from 9U to the college level, Lee had helped place 56 college commits over the last three summers to schools such as Arkansas, Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas A&M, among others.
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Lee is married to his wife, Stacy, and the couple has a teenage daughter, Ava, and a newborn son, Pierce.
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