Dec. 9, 2008

Courtesy of UIC

CHICAGO, Ill. - University of Illinois at Chicago athletic director Jim Schmidt announced on Monday, Dec. 8 that head baseball coach Mike Dee has signed a five-year contract.

The extension keeps Dee on board as head coach of the Flames through the 2012-13 season.

"In 10 years Mike has built one of the most respected collegiate baseball programs in the region and the entire country," said Schmidt. "The way his team handles its business on and off the field is a tremendous representation of the University and our standards of being consistently competitive for championships and postseason appearances and, most importantly, excelling in the classroom."

"I am very excited about the opportunity to continue our work here at UIC," said Dee. "I'm more excited about this school and the program than I was 10-plus years ago when we started. I'm grateful for the wonderful opportunity to continue to build something that fits within the framework of this great University. There isn't another place I'd rather be."

As UIC's head coach, Dee has amassed a 339-223-1 record that has included nine straight 30-win campaigns. The Flames have won seven consecutive Horizon League regular season titles and four Horizon League tournament championships in the last six years to go along with four NCAA Regional appearances since 2003.

In addition to guiding the program to its first-ever NCAA Regional in 2003, Dee has led UIC to the first two NCAA postseason wins in the program's history in the last two years. The Flames defeated No. 16 Long Beach State in the 2007 Long Beach Regional opener before eliminating Dallas Baptist at the College Station Regional this past June.

During his tenure at UIC, Dee has been named the Horizon League Coach of the Year an unprecedented eight times, including each of the last four years.

Fifty-two UIC student-athletes have been named to All-Horizon League teams under Dee since 1999, along with two Horizon League Players of the Year. Dee has also seen at least one of his players move on to the professional baseball ranks in each of the last eight seasons, including current Detroit Tigers star Curtis Granderson.
 
Dee's program has also thrived in the classroom under his watch. Last season the UIC baseball program was named the 2007-08 UIC Male Academic Team of the Year.