Philander Smith College will host the Annual Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) Banquet, an affiliate of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in Mims Gymnasium, 900 W. Daisy Bates Drive.

Dr. Dean Lee, Associate Vice Chancellor and Former Athletic Director of Arkansas State University will be the keynote speaker.

Dr. Lee moved to ASU after serving 5 years in the Big 12 Conference as Oklahoma State University Associate Director of Athletics for External Operations, and 2 years as Director of Athletics at Arkansas Tech University.

Lee has served in various leadership positions at the national level: Bowl Championship Series (BCS) AD Advisory Board; Division 1A Athletic Directors Board of Trustees; NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Issues Committee; Chair, NCAA Women’s Bowling Committee, and Sun Belt Conference Athletic Directors.

Lee’s numerous accomplishments include: 27 National Championships, 8 Bowl Teams, 5 Final Fours, 4 National Runner-ups, and a fundraising participant acquiring a surplus of $140 million for athletic facility construction projects.

A native of Oklahoma, Dr. Lee competed high school sports in Arkansas as a member of the All-Star football and basketball teams, and played college basketball, tennis and baseball at Henderson State University. Early in his career, he was the Head Coach at Malvern High School in Malvern, Arkansas.

Dr. Lee will address the GCAC officials and participants tomorrow, February 27th at 7pm.

For more information about the conference, go to www.gcacconf.com or contact, Dr. Collea McKinney, SID, at (903) 752-0303.