Jayson Gee enters his first season with the Chanticleers. He came to Coastal Carolina after spending the past three seasons at Western Carolina.
CCU is the third program Gee has worked with head coach Justin Gray as the duo worked together at both Western Carolina and Winthrop.
A 35-year coaching veteran, Gee has served as both a head and assistant coach. Before working on the Cullowhee campus, Gee spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Cincinnati after serving as the associate head coach at Winthrop (2018-19).
He made the move to Winthrop from Longwood where he was the Lancers’ head coach from 2013-18. Along with Longwood, he has also served as the head coach at the University of Charleston (W.Va.) from 1996-2003. Combined, he has a career head coaching record of 202-175 over 12 seasons.
Gee served as an assistant and associate coach at Cleveland State (2006-13), where he helped lead the Vikings’ to three NIT bids and an NCAA tournament appearance. He was also named one of the nation’s top 10 assistant coaches by BleacherReport.com.
In the 2009 NCAA Tournament, Gee’s team at Cleveland State defeated fourth-seeded Wake Forest in the first round.
Gee was also an assistant coach at St. Bonaventure (2003-06), Ohio (1993-96), and at Youngstown State (1989-93).
The veteran basketball coach is also the author of “The Battle for Brandon,” a book that is a dramatic and compelling story about Jayson Gee and his wife, Lynette, and their son Brandon's courageous fight against child onset paranoid schizophrenia. The Gee family also worked with mass media veteran Chad Bonham to transform the book into a documentary that has received endorsements from Emmy Nominated and Golden Globe Award winning actress Jennifer Garner, WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings, and former Pittsburgh Steeler Antwaan Randle El.
Gee was one of 18 selected for the 2008 ACE (Achieving Coaching Excellence) Program in Indianapolis. Sponsored by the NCAA Black Coaches and Administrators Council, the ACE Program prepares minority collegiate coaches for success as future head coaches.
Originally from Springfield, Ohio, Gee played four years at the University of Charleston in West Virginia, helping the program to a record of 92-30, including 30-5 during his sophomore season. A two-year team captain, Gee finished his collegiate career third in both rebounds (844) and games played (122). He was inducted into the Charleston Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003 after previously being inducted into the Springfield South High Hall of Fame in 2000.
Gee earned his bachelor of science degree in social science education from Charleston in 1988, and his Master of Science degree in sport science and administration from Ohio University in 2003.
Jayson and his wife, Lynette, have three sons, Terrence, Brandon and Bryan, and a daughter, Briana.
