Grant Leonard begins his first season at Flagler College as an assistant coach under head coach Bo Clark. Leonard will be involved with all aspects of the Saints program, focusing on skill development, recruiting and strength and conditioning.
Leonard comes to Flagler from the University of Texas-Pan American, located in Edinburg, where he served as the Director of Basketball Operations for the NCAA Division 1 program from August of 2006-April of 2009. The UTPA assistant was the only member on staff all three seasons with head coach Tom Schuberth. During Schuberth’s tenure at UTPA, with the help of Leonard, amassed the second-best win percentage all-time at the school (next to Abe Lemmons). Schuberth also won Independent Coach of the Year honors for the 2007-2008 season while recording the best record in Independent Division 1 basketball by five games. Leonard helped with all aspects of the program while being the film exchange coordinator and NCAA game pass list supervisor. Leonard had the pleasure of seeing three of the Broncs that played at UTPA move on to play professionally in both America and overseas.
Leonard also had a stop at Washington College, a NCAA Division III school in Chestertown, Md., during the 2005-06 season. He was the lead assistant coach and helped in all basketball duties and day-to-day operations for the program. At Washington, Leonard headed all skill development sessions for the Shoremen and was the recruiting coordinator. Leonard received commitments from 15 recruits and also served as the director for fundraising for the men’s basketball program. During his tenure at Washington, Leonard helped head coach Rob Nugent record a career-high 14-win season and win his first conference tournament game.
During his coaching career at UTPA and Washington College, Leonard also assisted in the operation of the Eastern Invitational Basketball Clinic in New Jersey as a camp coach and camp commissioner. Eastern Invitational is known worldwide as one of the best exposure camps for aspiring young high school basketball players. Some of the players Leonard had an opportunity to coach while working camp are as follows: Donte Greene (Syracuse University), Kim English (University of Missouri), Dominic Rutledge (St Joseph’s University), Alphonso Dawson (University of Delaware), and Andre Gillette (Niagara University).
His prior basketball camp experience consisted of serving as the director of the North Shore Basketball Camp in Chicago, Ill., from 1998-2005 where he oversaw the day-to-day activities while hiring and training all staff members. North Shore Basketball Camp was owned and operated by Everette Stephens, a former NBA player with the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks who also was an All-Conference performer in the Big 10 at Purdue University. Leonard admits his opportunity at North Shore Basketball Camp under Stephens molded his desire to coach as Stephens served as an excellent friend and mentor.
Leonard served as the first assistant coach at Shorewood High School in Shorewood, Wis., from 2004-05. He held several coaching assignments for the Greyhounds while overseeing the skill development and strength and conditioning programs.
Leonard earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology, with cum laude honors, from William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 2004. He earned Academic All-Region laurels during his junior and senior seasons while guiding the Statesmen to within one game of the NAIA National Tournament as a senior. As a player, Leonard split his time as both a point guard and a shooting guard who excelled from the three-point line hitting over 40% of his career attempts.
