|
LeClair to Be Inducted Into
Alma Mater's Hall of Fame
From ECU Media Relations Western Carolina to Honor
Pirate Baseball Coach
GREENVILLE — East Carolina University head baseball coach Keith LeClair,
who is in his fifth season with the Pirates after a highly successful tenure
as a player and coach at Western Carolina University, will be inducted into
his alma mater's Athletics Hall of Fame, WCU officials announced Tuesday.
LeClair will be officially inducted at a ceremony on the Western Carolina
campus in Cullowhee, N.C., on October 12, 2002, as part of that school's
Hall of Fame Weekend.
As a first baseman and outfielder, LeClair led the Catamounts to four
consecutive Southern Conference championships (1985-88). he ranks among the
top 10 in six different WCU hitting categories while posting a .375 career
batting average. In 1988, he was named MVP of the Southern Conference
Tournament, as well as being an all-conference selection.
In 1992, he became the Catamounts' head coach at the age of 25. In his
first season in that capacity, he led Western Carolina to the Southern
Conference regular season and tournament championships. The team, which
finished with a No. 17 national ranking, advanced to the NCAA Tournament and
came within one game of making the College World Series field, falling to
Florida State in the championship game of the South Regional.
His 1994 team posted a school-record 45 wins and earned the program's
first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA postseason. In his six seasons at
Western Carolina, he posted a record of 229-135-2, led WCU to four NCAA
Tournament berths, and was Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 1992,
1994, and 1997.
LeClair has continued that success since arriving at East Carolina in
1997. Currently the third-winningest coach in ECU history, his teams have
won 46 or more games in each of the past three seasons, advancing to NCAA
Tournament play each time, and have ranked in the national top 25 polls
every week since the middle of the 2000 season. He has earned Colonial
Athletic Association Coach-of-the-Year and ABCA East Region
Coach-of-the-Year honors twice.
As a player, assistant coach, and head coach, LeClair has been a part of
12 NCAA Tournament teams.
He is a 1988 graduate of Western Carolina with a degree in physical
education.
Click here to visit
ECUPirates.com.
02/23/2007 01:36:25 PM
-----
|
