Colorado College Athletics

Andy Partee, now in his 14th season as head coach at Colorado College, has guided the program to its most successful run since the mid-1990s.

The Tigers recorded double-digit victories during each of the last eight seasons, posting a combined 140-193 record during that time. That stretch includes five consecutive trips to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament, including back-to-back appearances in the championship game.    

To understand how successful the program has become, one must consider where it came from during Partee’s second season when he played his initial recruiting class during a winless 2007-08 campaign.

It paid off with those same players defeating Division I Air Force Academy to start a 2010-11 season that ended with a 14-12 record, a second-place finish in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference West Division, and the program’s first trip to the league postseason tournament.  

The foundation is in place for many successful seasons to come thanks to strong recruiting. Partee has brought in some of the best players to ever don a Tigers uniform, including SCAC Player of the Year Nick Rose, a two-time first-team all-conference selection.

Rose led the SCAC in scoring, averaging 21.9 points per game, and concluded his career ranked sixth on CC’s career chart with 1,494 points. He went on to play professional basketball in Europe and exhibition basketball against the Harlem Globetrotters as a member of the Washington Generals. 

More recently, Ryan Milne earned all-conference honors accolades for the fourth time in 2014, including three consecutive appearances on the first team. He also was the league’s Newcomer of the Year for the 2010-11 campaign.

Milne completed his career ranked second in program history with 458 assists, fifth with 1,575 points and 143 steals, and sixth with 210 three-point baskets.
Last year, Chris Lesnansky became Colorado College’s second player to earn first-team all-SCAC honors for a third time. He too was an SCAC Newcomer of the Year, claiming the award in 2012.

Lesnansky ranks fifth in school history with 642 rebounds, eighth with 1,487 points and 19th with 153 assists.

Partee brought more than 15 years of coaching and recruiting experience to the Tigers when he was named as head coach in April 2006. He had served as an assistant on the men’s staff at Brown since June 1998, coordinating national recruiting efforts and helping guide Brown to three runner-up finishes in the Ivy League.

He earlier spent four seasons (1994-98) as an assistant coach at Monmouth University, another NCAA Division I program, as well as two campaigns (1992-94) in the Division II ranks, at the University of Northern Colorado.

Partee lettered four years at Monmouth, playing point guard his senior year (1991-92) when the Hawks won 20 games for the first time. After he returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach, the team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by claiming a Northeast Conference championship in 1995-96.

Partee lives in Monument with his wife Kendra, daughter Halle, and sons Tre and Zevien, who shares May 11 as a birthday with his father.