Wheaton, Ill. – Wheaton College Athletic Director Dr. Tony Ladd has announced the hiring of Lee Driggers as the head coach of the Thunder baseball program. Driggers replaces Bobby Elder, who resigned in June after seven years at the helm of the Thunder. Driggers assumes a Wheaton program that tallied the most wins in school history with a 23-14 record in 2008 and its first-ever appearance in the four-team CCIW Tournament.

Ladd says of the addition of Driggers to the Wheaton program, “Coach Driggers is an exceptional match for Wheaton College Athletics. He is a builder of programs and facilities—two areas that match Wheaton's needs.” Ladd adds, “He fits well with the exceptional coaching team that exists at Wheaton in that he has strong technical skills in coaching with a heart for ministry.” He concludes, “Coach Driggers is an able successor to Coach Bobby Elder who developed the program to the level of success it enjoys today.”

Driggers comes to Wheaton after 13 seasons as the head coach at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. Driggers has also served as head coach at Tarleton State and Hardin-Simmons University, in addition to high school coaching posts in Texas at Brenham High School, Willowridge High School and Abilene Cooper High School. From 1990-92 he managed the Pittsburgh Pirates AA affiliate team to three winnings seasons in the New York-Penn League.

Driggers, a Florida native, was drafted as a pitcher by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1968, playing in the Pioneer and Florida State League. In 1972 he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education from the University of Central Florida and attained a Master's Degree in education from McNeese State in 1976. Lee and his wife Sharon have three children; daughters Kristi and Jodi and son Austin. Austin will be a freshman for the Thunder football team this fall.

In 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Driggers has compiled a record of 412-270-2. In 13 seasons at McMurry, Driggers' teams have won 62 percent of their games with a record of 350-218-2. He became the McMurry head coach in 1996, helping create a program from scratch as baseball had been discontinued at McMurry from 1949-95. In his time at the school, he has guided the program to four American Southwest Conference Championships (1998, 2001, 2004 and 2008) and four NCAA Tournament appearances (1998, 2001, 2004 and 2008), with five All-Americans. Among the McMurry All-Americans under Driggers' guidance is two-time All-American Derek David, the 2008 Division III “Player of the Year” as selected by D3Baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).

Driggers says of his hiring, “I am honored that Wheaton would choose me as its next baseball coach. I am excited to build on the foundation that has been put in place by Coach Elder and the players that have been here.” He concludes, “I look forward to being part of the mission of Wheaton College and developing student-athletes in all aspects of their lives.”