On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, UIC Director of Athletics Michael Lipitz announced that associate head coach Sean McDermott would be elevated to assume permanent leadership of the program.
As a dogged recruiter and a skilled position coach, McDermott played a pivotal role that allowed the Flames to be quickly built up for sustained success. He was an integral part of squads that won at least 30 games in a season 12 times in 23 years, including each year from 2000-08, and again in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
Over the past 23 seasons, 117 players have earned First Team or Second Team All-Conference distinction, including seven in 2021. UIC has seen at least seven players voted to the All-Conference Team nine times under Dee’s direction, and at least two players every single season.
On top of that, 56 former standouts were picked for the All-Newcomer of All-Freshman Team, including the 2021 Freshman of the Year, Cole Conn.
UIC has produced 17 All-Region honorees, eight All-Americans and nine freshmen All-Americans since McDermott arrived in Chicago. The Flames have had the conference's Newcomer of the Year eight times, the Pitcher of the Year six times, the Relief Pitcher of the Year six times and the Player of the Year four times.
More than 50 former players moved on from UIC to play professional baseball since Dee and McDermott took over in 1999. In the last three full Major League Baseball drafts since 2017, 11 student-athletes were drafted by eight different organizations and three more signed professional contracts as free agents.
