Former UCI assistants succeeding

Former UC Irvine men’s basketball assistant coaches Todd Lee and Tod Murphy are having excellent seasons as head coaches.

Lee, in his fifth season at the helm of Kentucky Wesleyan, has his program off to a 23-3 start, including a 12-2 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, heading into Thursday’s game.

Lee’s squad is ranked No. 16 in Division II, but is in second place in the East Division of its conference, behind No. 2-ranked Southern Indiana (21-0, 12-0).

Lee, looking to guide the Panthers to their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, was the conference’s coach of the year in 2008.

Murphy, who starred at UCI as a player, left the school after six seasons as an assistant to take over the program at Gordon College, a Division III school in Wenham, Mass. He has his team on a 13-game winning streak heading into Tuesday’s action.

The unranked Fighting Scots are 17-3, 9-0 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference.