Pandora - The Pandora-Gilboa Rockets picked up a 41-30 victory over Continental to advance to 9-7 on the 24-25 basketball season. The story of the night wasn't just this victory, but the fact that Head Coach Mike Lee had now picked up win number four hundred on his career. 

He won his 400th game at the same school where he got his first coaching job, Continental, where he was a junior high coach.

Coach Lee was a head varsity coach for the first time in his career during the 1993-94 season at Minster. In his time as the Wildcats head coach he tallied up 314 victories, 12 sectional titles, 6 district championships, and was a one time state semifinalist after winning the 2005 Dayton Regional title.

After stepping down at Minster, Coach Lee became an assistant at Van Buren for two years before he got a call from the administration at Pandora-Gilboa asking for him to become the Rockets head coach.

Mike Lee led his team to a 10-12 season followed by a 10-13 year as his first two at Pandora-Gilboa. The Rockets would turn the corner from a double digit win team to the top dogs in future years.

In the previous three seasons (2022-2024) Mike Lee led his team to a combined 57-16 record including two BVC, two PCL, two sectional, and one district title for the Rockets. This was only the Rockets third trip to the reginal semifinals and the first appearance since 2018 under Joe Bradic.

Throughout all of the ups and downs there has been one thing consistent about Coach Lee's PG teams, the culture.

Coach Lee described his ideal culture as one that players "Take attributes from what are done from the course of games and done over the course of practices and use in life beyond basketball". 

This is definitely something that has been accomplished as many players have taken notice of these attributes, including junior captain Camden Verhoff.

Verhoff said that "Coach Lee may just be a coach in some people's eyes but to our team he is a symbol of respect and hard work. Coach Lee teaches us more than just the game of basketball. He is showing us what an upstanding individual looks like".

Coach Lee makes sure to be respectful to everyone involved in the school, not just with the basketball program.

Senior cheerleader Lexi Wentz explained that "Every time I see Coach Lee he asks how I'm doing and says good luck to the cheerleaders".

Coach Lee said in reference to his 400th win that "You need kids to buy in year in and year out, not every year will be as successful as others" and also "Ultimately, I'm the recipient of what the kids do on the basketball court. So that's a credit to the kids at PG and the kids I had at Minster".

Senior captain Matt Maag thinks that even though the kids may be playing, a lot of credit should go to Coach Lee and stated that "Coach Lee has truly earned all 400 wins by instilling a culture of hard work and physicality throughout his entire career. He is a tremendous coach and fantastic role model".

Hard work, physicality, and team defense (the break of each PG huddle) has been something Mike Lee has always strived for in his teams. "You can't really control a lot of things offensively. Some nights you're going to hit it, some nights you're not. But what you can control and hopefully the kids do a good job is what you do on the other end of the floor".  He described that this mentality has been with him for all of his coaching days, not just at PG.

Coach Lee's knowledge of the game isn't lost on the team either. "He's the most experienced coach I know and it shows during practices, watching film, and during games" said junior Chase Meyer.

Coach Lee has changed the way things are done at Pandora-Gilboa with his expectations for players both on and off the court. He credits the community with having a lot of similar ideals as he does saying "Pandora, just like the previous school I was at, there's good kids that are walking the halls. Ultimately they have been receptive on what we're trying to do, you can't take away the hard work. These kids, they come from good families, there's a lot of attributes that are very, very positive". 

Mike Lee has added multiple events throughout the year that give back to the community as well. He has brought the Red Wagon Campaign to PG while also adding a "Military Appreciation Night" to honor those who have served within the area at a game versus Bluffton.

What sticks out more than these 400 wins is the way in which he coaches and acts during practices and games. Even when being critical of play Coach Lee makes sure to respect other coaches, officials, and players at all times. This includes an effort to make sure his players do the same. It was described to me by each player I talked to that the expectation is to give the ball to the official and not argue a call even when it's not a good one.

Another thing that shows is Coach Lee wants there to be a team over individual mentality. This is displayed by having each player wear grey shoes during games, wear the same tie on gamedays, having a clean haircut, and not using any obscure accessories. Although some may find this weird, it showcases that each player becomes fully bought into being a good teammate and fully becoming a team.

Head Coach Mike Lee is now 400-256 on his career (86-48 at PG) and ranks fourth all time in Putnam County history behind Dick Kortokrax (890), Dave Sweet (449), and Louis W. Heckman (448) for all time victories. 

Although his time at Pandora Gilboa has only spanned six years Coach Lee will leave a legacy of winning behind him whenever he steps away. More importantly, he will have been an example for not only the players but the community of Pandora-Gilboa school of how to act in good times and bad. Congratulations to Mike Lee for his 400th career victory and thank you for your dedication to not only what happens on the court, but being a role model to so many people at Pandora-Gilboa. 

Read more articles by Chase Dettrow