As Michelle Lee sits with her legs crossed behind her desk adorned with flowers and family pictures, it’s hard to imagine her as a hard-nosed director of a Division-I athletics program. But underneath her pleasant and eager disposition is a woman willing to fight for the success of N.C. State Athletics.
When it comes to fighting for something, there is no better person than Lee. She is a fourth degree black belt and was a silver medalist at the 1995 World Tae Kwon Do Championships. Since then, Lee has found a new way to use her competitive and dedicated personality.
“She’s definitely someone who makes things happen. When she does something, she’s going to do it right,” said Megan Finch, who works under Lee as Assistant Director for Compliance.
Lee serves as the Associate Athletic Director for Compliance at N.C. State. She oversees the bulk of compliance issues which include recruiting, media relations, transfer eligibility, redshirt applications, scholarships, and keeping teams within NCAA regulations.
“I’m a very competitive person. I love winning,” Lee said. “But at the end of the day, we are a college athletic program and there is more to the whole experience than just winning. College athletics is about students. It’s about the experience they can get.”
Lee points out that since most college athletes won’t go on to play professionally, it is crucial to stress the “student” part of student-athletes’ time in school.
“It’s just great to see those athletes who may not be the greatest students, but bust their tail in study hall and really fight to graduate,” Lee said. “And then to see them on Saturdays doing well on the field, or in the pool…that’s overall success to me.”
Lee not only works with athletes, but also with coaches. Although some may think athletes are difficult to deal with, Lee explains that coaches also have their own ways of testing her.
“All of our coaches are high maintenance, which I expect them to be. They all want to win,” Lee said. “They all want to get that recruit.”
Even though she helps out on compliance issues for all Wolfpack sports, she is the sport administrator for women’s basketball and men’s and women’s swimming and diving. In addition to this, Lee is the Chair of the ACC Swimming & Diving Committee, and is a board member of the NCAA Swimming & Diving Committee.
When it comes to compliance, State has had a pristine record of staying within NCAA regulations. Many schools such as USC, Alabama, and Tennessee have all had public scandals involving major infractions. Last year Alabama had to vacate 21 wins and was put on three years of probation due to major NCAA violations in 16 sports.
Thanks to Lee, N.C. State has successfully avoided headline scandals during the past seven years under her control.
“She knows what she’s doing. She’s organized, and she doesn’t wait for anything to go wrong,” Finch said. “If it doesn’t seem right, she fixes it.”
And if that means delivering a round-house kick to an illegal booster, Michelle Lee probably wouldn’t hesitate if it would keep the Wolfpack out of trouble and on the road to success.
