Lee Parks - Assistant Coach - Baseball Coaches - University of Memphis Athletics

Lee Parks

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
flparks@memphis.edu
Phone:
901-678-5041

Head Coach Daron Schoenrock hired Lee Parks in the summer of 2014 to be his assistant coach and camps coordinator. Parks is charged with coaching the infielders and on gameday he is the first base coach.

Parks came to the UofM after a seven-year stint at Saint Leo University. He led the recruiting efforts and served as the hitting and catching coach.

With the addition of Parks to the staff in 2015, Memphis batted .272 and blasted 39 home runs. The Tigers truck out 320 times during the year, which is the second lowest total in the last 20 years. Always interested in putting pressure on the opponent, Memphis stole 87 bases last season, which is the most since 1994.

After joining Saint Leo in 2008, Parks helped the Lions' offense rank near the top of the conference in all major offensive categories. In 2014, Saint Leo finished with a .313 batting average, slugged .452, scored 359 runs, posted 540 hits and 113 doubles to rank second in each of those categories.

As recruiting coordinator at Saint Leo, Parks was recognized as one of the top recruiters in the southeast region and has a proven ability to identify talent. He recruited four former MLB draft picks to Saint Leo.

In his seven seasons, Parks coached four Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Freshmen of the Year, 15 All-SSC selections, four All-South Region selections and three NCBWA All-Americans. Parks’ first five seasons as an assistant were under the direction of former Saint Leo Head Coach Russ McNickle, now pitching coach at Memphis.

Parks spent three years as a scout in the Texas Rangers organization prior to his time at Saint Leo, as well as some time working in the New York Yankees player development department.

Prior to his professional career within collegiate and professional baseball, Parks was a four-year letterwinner at Mississippi State University. As a catcher with the Bulldogs, Parks helped MSU to the College World Series in 1998 and an SEC Conference Tournament title in 2001.

After finishing his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State in 2002, Parks went on to receive his MBA while working as a graduate assistant in sports marketing at MSU. After graduate school, he served as Assistant General Manager for the Outer Banks Daredevils of the Coastal Plains League summer team.

Parks is married to former Amanda Ellen White and the couple has a daughter, Carson Ellen Parks.