Cal State Bakersfield is working toward hiring USC assistant Todd Lee as its next head coach, sources told ESPN.
Lee has worked under Eric Musselman at both USC and Arkansas for the last four years. The two have a longtime relationship, dating back to their time coaching the CBA's Rapid City Thrillers in the early 1990s.
Lee's last head coaching experience came at South Dakota from 2018-22, when he went 66-52 in four seasons. He won 20 games in 2019-20 and earned Summit League Coach of the Year honors after the 2020-21 season.
His hire at Bakersfield will mark a return to the Roadrunners for Lee, as he was an assistant coach on the staff at the Division II level from 1994-97. He helped lead the program to a Division II national championship in 1997.
At Bakersfield, Lee will replace Rod Barnes, who stepped down amid scandal back in September after 14 years in charge of the program. One of Barnes' assistant coaches and former players, Kevin Mays, was arrested last September on 11 criminal and misdemeanor charges, including pimping. Athletic director Kyle Conder also left his position last September following Mays' arrest.
