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I humbly submit my leading candidate. I know everyone is on the Dan McDonnell train but this guy was hitting coach on all those teams we like to brag about. Maybe it is time he got a chance to sit in the first chair.



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Courtesy: CitadelSports.com
Release: 02/18/2008
Stuart Lake enters his second season as an assistant for The Citadel Baseball program. Lake is responsible for coaching the hitters and outfielders, as well as being very involved in recruiting prospective cadet-student-athletes.

In Lake's first season, the Bulldogs showed marked offensive improvement, advancing their hitting mark from .296 before Lake joined the staff to .307 after just one year, while recording 47 more extra base hits. The Bulldogs set school records in home runs (70) and total bases (1,037) in the first year of his offensive tutelage. Zach Brown '07 posted career high marks in batting average (.353) and home runs (13) and was drafted in the 27th round by the San Diego Padres while Richard Jones earned Freshman All-America honors after batting .335 with 15 home runs.

Lake joined The Citadel staff after spending three seasons as an assistant for the Ole Miss Rebels, where he was responsible for the hitters and outfielders. Ole Miss enjoyed three of the school's most successful seasons in history with 39 wins in 2004, 47 in 2005 and 44 in 2006. The Rebels hosted an NCAA Regional in all three of Lake's years, as well as two NCAA Super Regionals. The 2005 edition of the Ole Miss ballclub won the Southeastern Conference Western Division and the 2006 team won the SEC Tournament Championship.

In Lake's first year at Ole Miss, the Rebels offense belted 14 more home runs than in the previous year and the team's .444 slugging percentage was 33 points higher than the year before. In addition, the Rebels topped the 600-hit mark with 614 base hits.

In the 2005 season, the Rebels continued to improve offensively, producing more than 750 hits, scoring more than 500 runs and driving in 462 runs on the way to claiming the SEC Western Division title, the program's first in 23 seasons. The Rebels also had six hitters hit over the .300 mark that year.

The 2006 season witnessed Ole Miss lead the extremely tough SEC in hitting as the Rebels batted at the .309 clip for the year and four Rebels finished in the top eight in the SEC in total hits for the season. The Ole Miss offense produced more than 700 hits for the second straight season as the Rebels won the SEC Tournament on its way to a second straight NCAA Super Regional.

During his tenure at Ole Miss, Lake coached over 20 players who were drafted into professional baseball. A few notable Rebels were Chris Coghlan (Second Round/36th overall pick, 2006, Florida Marlins), Zack Cozart (Second Round, 2006, Cincinnati Reds), Stephen Head (Second Round, 2005, Cleveland Indians), Brian Pettway (Third Round, 2005, Toronto Blue Jays), Alex Presley (Eighth Round, 2006, Pittsburgh Pirates) and Seth Smith (Second Round, 2004, Colorado Rockies).

That talented group included an eventual National League Champion (Smith), an SEC Co-Player of the Year (Head), a Golden Spikes Award Finalist (Head), an eventual member of Team USA (Cozart) and three All-Americans (Cozart, Head and Pettway).

Prior to his stint at Ole Miss, Lake spent one season at the College of Charleston. In his only year with the Cougars, Lake served as third base coach, hitting instructor and outfield coach. Lake had two hitters drafted during his time at The Citadel's neighbor and rival school, with Lee Curtis getting drafted in the eighth round by the Boston Red Sox after hitting .399 and being named Southern Conference Player of the Year. Matt Lauderdale was also selected in the ninth round by the San Diego Padres.

Lake began his collegiate coaching career at South Carolina in 1999, where he coached the outfielders, coached first base and assisted with the hitters. During his time at USC, the Gamecocks won three SEC East Division titles, two SEC Championships, played in three NCAA Super Regionals and reached the College World Series Championship Game in 2002.

Lake helped two SEC Player of the Year winners during his stint as a Gamecock. One of those players, Kip Bouknight, was also the 2002 Golden Spikes Award Winner.

Prior to his collegiate coaching career, Lake coached at Mid Carolina High School (his alma mater) and at Brookland Cayce High School in Columbia. Brookland Cayce won the AAA State Championship in Lake's second year in 1998. Lake also served as the head coach of the Edenton Steamers of the Coastal Plain League in 2000.

In Lake's 13-year coaching career, he has coached over 75 players who have gone on to play professional baseball with 31 of those being drafted in the first 10 rounds. Seven of those 13 were drafted in the first round. Three of his players have been named SEC Player of the Year and one named Southern Conference Player of the Year. Two of his players have been named to the Golden Spikes Award Watch List with one winning that coveted award. Lake has had 10 former athletes reach the Major League and Lake is one of the few who can ever claim to coach a player that eventually appeared in the Major League All-Star Game, World Series and the Super Bowl.