Lee University Athletics

Dr. Charles Paul Conn, became the 16th president of Lee University in 1986 and immediately his impact was felt in the Athletic Department. Under Dr. Conn’s leadership, the athletic department grew exponentially from three teams to eleven teams in a matter of just six years with the addition of men’s soccer and softball in 1987, men’s tennis and volleyball in 1988, women’s tennis in 1990, women’s soccer in 1992 and men’s and women’s cross country in 1993.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

From there, Dr. Conn immediately went to work to transform the athletic program into a national contender by providing the staff, coaches, and student athletes the resources they needed to compete at the highest level. Larry Carpenter became the first full-time Athletic Director in school history in 1999. Athletic trainers, compliance, communication staff, and assistant coaches were also added to help the athletic department continue to ascend in the NAIA.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
                                       
The pieces were now in place as Lee began to make a name for itself nationally in the NAIA in the 1990’s and early 2000s. The culmination of the NAIA success came in the form of an unprecedented four-straight women’s soccer National Championships from 2008-2011. Volleyball made it all the way to the Final Four in 2009 and 2011, baseball finished second in 2008 and 2010 in the NAIA World Series, men’s basketball advanced to the Elite Eight in 2008 and 2010, and women’s basketball wrapped up its final year of NAIA competition with a trip to the National Championship Game in 2013. 
                                                                                                                                                                                 
Dr. Conn made a commitment early in his tenure that he would fund and support women’s sports just as much as men’s sports even at a time when that was not commonplace in collegiate athletics. That commitment was realized with the hiring of volleyball coach Andrea Hudson, softball coach Emily Russell, and women's basketball leader Marty Rowe.  Dr. Conn added three more sports with women's golf in 2008 under the direction of John Maupin, women’s track and field was established in 2010 and women’s lacrosse became the final sport added in 2017. 
                                                                                                                                                                             
Perhaps the biggest transformation took place in the summer of 2012 when Dr. Conn announced that Lee would make a bold decision to break from the comfort and familiarity of the NAIA after 37 years and step up to battle in the NCAA.   
                                                                                             
Under Dr. Conn’s steady leadership, the Flames rose to meet the challenges of competing at the NCAA level. The Flames and Lady Flames have finished in the top 15 percent of all NCAA D2 institutions and placed second in the GSC in overall success in each of the first four seasons in the NCAA.  In 2016 Lee received the prestigious NCAA Award of Excellence for its dedication to community service through the annual Volley For A Cure event.  
                                                                                                                                                                              
More remarkable and powerful than the ascension of Lee Athletics over the last 34 years is the fact that every student athlete that has donned the maroon and white knows what it feels like to have Dr. and Mrs. Conn cheering them on from the stands. Dr. Conn, like in so many other areas of university life, led athletics to tremendous heights by always focusing on the students first. He cheered them on both at home and on the road making trips around the country to support the Flames. He was a passionate believer in the power that athletics played in the life of the university and in the life of the student athlete.