Keith LeClair Classic
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When Keith LeClair became the 13th head baseball coach at ECU in July of 1997, he brought with him passion, determination and the ultimate goal – to make it to Omaha, site of the NCAA College World Series, and win a national championship.
LeClair became the second-winningest baseball coach in school history (currently fourth) in just five seasons at ECU, compiling a 212-96-1 (.688) record, currently ranks fourth all-time at ECU. He also led the Pirates to four-straight NCAA Regional appearances, three Colonial Athletic Association championships and one Conference USA title.
His 2001 club advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals and finished with a No. 11 national ranking after registering a 47-13 mark. LeClair’s final squad, which was ranked in the Top 25 polls for much of the season, swept through the C-USA Tournament and won a pair of games at the Clemson Regional. He won the American Baseball Coaches Association’s East Region Coach-of-the-Year award in both 1999 and 2001.
In addition, LeClair played an integral role in fundraising efforts and eventual construction of a new, state-of-the-art baseball stadium on the ECU campus. His dreams were realized in the spring of 2005 when 3,000-seat Clark-LeClair Stadium opened March 4 and the Pirates capped off the ceremony by defeating Michigan 2-1.
LeClair arrived at ECU in the summer of 1997 after six seasons at the helm of his alma mater, Western Carolina University. At WCU, he compiled a 229-135-2 (.628) record while winning four Southern Conference championships and advancing to NCAA Regional play on four occasions.
As a player at Western Carolina under head coach Jack Leggett, LeClair was an All-Southern Conference selection in 1988 while earning SoCon Tournament MVP honors the same season. The former walk-on also established Catamount records for hits and total bases in a season.
LeClair signed with the Atlanta Braves after completing his collegiate career and spent the summer of 1988 as an outfielder for Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League. After a spring training stint with the San Francisco Giants in 1989, he was offered a student assistant coaching position at Western Carolina which led to full-time responsibilities shortly thereafter.
He was inducted into both the ECU University and Western Carolina University Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall of 2002 and was honored as the first recipient of the Conference USA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s (SAAC) Coaches Choice Award. In addition, the Conference USA Baseball Coach-of-the-Year Award was named in honor of LeClair.
LeClair’s number 23, which he wore as a player and coach, became an honorary jersey at ECU in 2003 and was awarded annually to the player who best embodies the qualities that made LeClair a great player and coach until 2014. Cliff Godwin, who was tabbed as the Pirates’ 16th head coach in June of 2014 and a four-year letterwinner under LeClair, currently wear’s his skipper’s No. 23. Western Carolina officially retired his No. 23 jersey on April 11, 2006.
During his collegiate baseball career as a player, assistant coach and head coach at Western Carolina University and ECU, LeClair was a part of 13 NCAA Tournament teams and earned five conference coach-of-the-year awards.
LeClair passed away at the age of 40 on July 17, 2006 after a five-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He officially relinquished his coaching duties June 19, 2002, two weeks after leading the Pirates to their fourth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance before finishing with a 43-20-1 record. LeClair remained with the ECU Department of Athletics as a special assistant to the director of athletics until the time of his death. He is survived by his wife, Lynn, and two children, Audrey and J.D.
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LeClair ECU Coaching Tree
Erik Bakich – Head Coach at Clemson University
Cliff Godwin – Head Coach at East Carolina
Joe Hastings – Scout Tampa Bay Rays
Clayton McCullough – First Base Coach L.A. Dodgers
Sam Narron - Pitching Coach Washington Nationals Organization
Nick Schnabel – Assistant Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Clemson University
Chad Tracy – Special Instructor for Washington Nationals
Bryant Ward – Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at UCLA
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ECU Hall of Famers LeClair Era
2002 – Keith LeClair
2012 – John Williamson
2015 – Chad Tracy
2016 – Tommy Eason
2019 – Sam Narron
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LeClair By The Numbers At ECU
1 – National Freshman-of-the-Year selection (Darryl Lawhorn/2002)
1 – Super Regional appearance (2001)
2 – Academic All-America selections (Cliff Godwin & Sam Narron)
2 – Players that have made MLB debuts (Sam Narron & Chad Tracy in 2004)
3 – Conference Players-of-the-Year
3 – Number of NCAA Regional No. 1 seeds (1999-2001)
4 – Conference titles won (regular season/tournament)
4 – NCAA Regional appearances (1999-2002)
4 – Times ranked in final national polls (1999-2002)
5 – Seasons as ECU Head Coach
5 – Coaches/Players in ECU Hall of Fame (see above)
7 – All-America selections
7 – Freshman All-America selections
7 – The overall National Seed in 2001
10 – ABCA All-East Region selections
15 – Pirates selected in MLB Draft
18 – All-NCAA Regional selections
23 – All-conference selections (first & second-team)
212 – Number of career wins (fourth all-time at ECU)
