Keith LeClair

College coach infobox
Name = Keith LeClair
Sport = Baseball
College = Western Carolina University
East Carolina University
Title = Head coach
CurrentRecord = WCU 229-135-2
ECU 212-96-1
OverallRecord = 441-231-3
Awards = 1988 MVP of the Southern Conference Tournament
1992, '94 and '97 SoCon Coach of the Year
1999 and 2001 East Region Coach-of-the-Year
Championships = 1992 Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships
three Colonial Athletic Association championships
one Conference USA title
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1992-1997 1998-2002
CoachTeams = Western Carolina
East Carolina

Keith LeClair was both a star athlete and later head baseball coach at Western Carolina University (Player-1985-88 & Coach-1992-97). During his playing days, LeClair played for current Clemson head baseball coach Jack Leggett at Western Carolina. He was an All-Southern Conference selection in 1988 while earning SoCon Tournament MVP honors the same season. The former walk-on established Catamount baseball records for hits and total bases in a season. LeClair played on four consecutive Southern Conference Championship Baseball teams (1985-88). He ranked in the top 10 in six different WCU hitting categories while posting a career .375 batting average and was named MVP of the 1988 Southern Conference Tournament (batted .600/12 RBI).

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 became Western Carolina's head coach in 1992 and coached the Catamounts to three Southern Conference tournament titles and three Southern Conference regular season titles. LeClair was a three time Southern Conference Coach of the Year with a career record at WCU of 229-135.

LeClair became the head baseball coach at East Carolina University in 1997 [ [http://ecupirates.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/071706aaa.html East Carolina Official Athletic Site ] ] , coaching there until he was forced to step down by illness in 2002. LeClair became the second-winningest baseball coach in East Carolina history in just five seasons, compiling a 212-96-1 (.688) record. He guided the Pirates to four straight NCAA Regional appearances, three Colonial Athletic Association championships and one Conference USA title. He won the American Baseball Coaches Association's East Region Coach-of-the-Year award in both 1999 and 2001.

He was inducted into both the East Carolina University and Western Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2002 [ [http://catamountsports.cstv.com/genrel/011105aae.html Western Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame :: ] ] . LeClair 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 battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease, for the five years prior to his death on July 17, 2006.

References