NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State head baseball coach Claudell Clark announced Thursday that long-time local high school baseball coach Wiley Lee has joined the NSU staff as an interim assistant coach.
Lee will assist the Spartans with hitting and infield instruction. He replaces A.J. Corbin, who has been reassigned within the athletics department.
Lee is one of the most successful coaches in recent Virginia high school baseball history. He coached Group AAA power Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Va., for 14 years. During his tenure, the Wildcats won 11 Southeastern District championships, four Eastern Region titles and state championships in 2003 and 2011.
Four of Lee's former Great Bridge players played professionally, including two-time Major League all-star Justin Upton of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2005 amateur draft. Fifty of Lee's players went on to play college baseball, including recent NSU standouts Chris Joyce, Jason Barker and Drew Suttmiller. Additionally, Lee's son Justin, a first-team all-state pick after helping Great Bridge to the 2011 state championship, is a freshman infielder on the Spartans' current roster. So is 2011 Louisville Slugger freshman All-America pitcher Ryan VanAssche.
“I feel that Wiley brings a wealth of knowledge and credibility to the coaching staff from his extensive experience and success on the baseball diamond,” Clark said. “His addition will help to ensure the continued success of the program and will help it grow in all aspects.”
“I'm excited about the opportunity to coach on the college level and to be a representative of Norfolk State University,” Lee said. “I'm thankful to Norfolk State for giving me the opportunity to share in the dream of NSU players striving to have successful college careers and pursue their professional aspirations. I'm committed to assisting coach Clark in doing whatever is necessary for the baseball team to continue to improve.”
Lee was a three-time All-Sun Belt pick at Old Dominion University, where he finished his career as the program's leader in stolen bases. A 1994 ODU Hall of Fame inductee, Lee was a freshman All-American in 1985 and played for the U.S. national team in 1986. Following his ODU career, Lee was a fifth round pick of the California Angels in the 1987 amateur draft. He played parts of four seasons in the Angels' farm system and was twice named a minor league all-star, first in the California League and then in the Texas League.
Lee earned his bachelor's degree in marketing education from ODU in 1989. He has taught since 1992 in the Chesapeake Public Schools' Center of Science and Technology. He and his wife, Jillayne, reside in Chesapeake and have two children, Justin (19) and Ashley (16).
