Cal State Bakersfield is moving to hire USC assistant Todd Lee as its next head coach, sources told ESPN. Lee has spent the past four years working under Eric Musselman at both USC and Arkansas, building a strong relationship that dates back to their CBA coaching days in the early 1990s.

Lee brings head coaching experience from his four-year tenure at South Dakota, where he compiled a 66-52 record and won Summit League Coach of the Year honors in 2020-21 after a 20-win season. His return to Bakersfield marks a homecoming, having previously served as an assistant from 1994 to 1997 when he helped the program win a Division II national championship.

The hire comes as Rod Barnes stepped down amid scandal in September after 14 years leading the Roadrunners. Barnes' former assistant and player Kevin Mays was arrested that month on 11 criminal and misdemeanor charges, including pimping, while athletic director Kyle Conder also departed following the scandal.