BATON ROUGE — LSU softball head coach Yvette Girouard announced Tuesday that former All-American Ashlee Ducote has been hired as the team’s new assistant coach.
“I think that Ashlee is the perfect fit,” said Girouard. “She is an LSU Tiger through and through. For me she was always one of those athletes that I coached against that I admired and respected for the way she played the game.”
“I had the chance to work with her as a volunteer coach and what sold me on her was the respect she had from her previous teammates. When she spoke, they listened, and that speaks volumes for her character. Ashlee will be a great fit for our staff. She is All-Tiger and All-Louisiana and an even better person.”
A four-year starter from 1997-2000, Ducote had a stellar career on the field for LSU and is committed to seeing the Tigers succeed. She served the 2001 season as one of LSU’s volunteer assistant coaches and helped take the Tigers to their first Women’s College World Series and a No. 3 final national ranking.
Ducote is the only Tiger to be honored as a two-time first-team All American during her junior and senior seasons and was the first Tiger to be named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year her senior season.
Ducote finished her career with a batting average of .368, the highest in LSU history. She is the only Tiger to complete a season with a batting average above .400 with a total of .431 for her senior season. A three-time All-SEC selection, Ducote hit 23 home runs, 19 triples and 52 doubles during her career at LSU. She set single-season records with 91 hits and 63 RBI her senior season and was named the Louisiana Player of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
“I am excited about this job in the fact that I will continue to be a big part of the program after playing for four years and now coaching,” said Ducote, 23. “I am comfortable here because I know the system and I know the girls. This is something that I wanted. I just didn’t know it would happen so soon.”