Grant Leonard

Last updated
Grant Leonard
Current position
TitleHead coach
Team Queens Royals
Conference ASUN
Record32–34 (.485)
Biographical details
Born (1980-08-20) August 20, 1980 (age 43)
Playing career
c. 2003 William Penn
Position(s) Point guard / shooting guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2004–2005 Shorewood HS (WI) (assistant)
2005–2006 Washington College (assistant)
2009–2010 Flagler (assistant)
2011–2013 Paine (assistant)
2013–2016 Queens (assistant)
2016–2022Queens (AHC)
2022–presentQueens
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2006–2009 Texas–Pan American (DBO)
Head coaching record
Overall32–34 (.485)

Grant Leonard (born August 20, 1980) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Queens Royals men's basketball team.

Contents

Early life

Leonard was born on August 20, 1980, and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [1] He attended Martin Luther High School and later played basketball in college for the William Penn Statesmen in Iowa. [1] A point guard and shooting guard, he made over 40% of his three-point shots in his collegiate career. [2] He was selected academic all-conference twice and was a two-time academic all-region player, graduating in 2004 cum laude with a bachelor's degree in psychology. [3] He directed the North Shore Basketball Camp in Chicago while in high school and college and later received a master's degree from Washington College. [1]

Coaching career

Leonard began his coaching career as an assistant at Shorewood High School, serving as an assistant coach from 2004–05. [1] He assisted in coaching the Washington College Shoremen in 2005–06. [4] The following three seasons, Leonard was the director of basketball operations for the Texas–Pan American Broncs. [2] He then served as an assistant coach for the Flagler Saints in 2009–10. [5] From 2011 until 2013, Leonard worked for the Paine Lions, where he was an assistant coach, recruiting coordinator, director of skill development and defensive specialist. [5] He helped the NCAA Division II school have their first winning season in seven years in 2011–12. [5]

Leonard was hired by the Division II Queens Royals in 2013 and received a promotion to associate head coach in 2016. [6] In his last seven years as an assistant coach for the team, they had a winning percentage of .837 with a 189–37 overall record, being a top-25 ranked team near-consistently going back to November 2015, including a best ranking of No. 1. [4] Queens won the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) regular season championship three times with Leonard on the staff while also having two SAC tournament titles and two Elite Eight appearances. [5] He was promoted to head coach for the 2022–23 season, the first in which Queens competed in the NCAA Division I. [7] In Leonard's first season as head coach, Queens went 18–15 and had a 7–11 record in the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). [8] [9] He signed a four-year contract extension after the season. [8]

Personal life

Leonard is married. [3] In November 2022, Leonard was arrested for driving while impaired, for which he was suspended by Queens for five games. [10] [11]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Queens Royals (ASUN Conference)(2022–present)
2022–23 Queens 18–157–11T–9th
2023–24 Queens 14–197–98th
Queens:32–34 (.485)14–20 (.412)
Total:32–34 (.485)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Atlantic Conference</span> American college athletic conference

The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as a football-only conference and became an all-sports conference beginning with the 1989–90 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Holland</span> American athletics administrator and basketball coach (1942–2023)

Michael Terrence Holland was an American college athletics administrator and basketball player and coach. Holland served as the head men's basketball coach at Davidson College from 1969 to 1974 and at the University of Virginia from 1974 to 1990, compiling a career college basketball coaching record of 418–216. Following his retirement from coaching, Holland was the athletic director at Davidson from 1990 to 1994, at Virginia from 1994 to 2001, and at East Carolina from 2004 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidney Lowe</span> American basketball player and coach

Sidney Rochell Lowe is an American former basketball player and current coach. He is currently an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lowe played college basketball and served as the head coach at North Carolina State University.

Bart Lundy is an American men's college basketball coach, who currently holds the head coach position for the Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team. He was head coach at Queens University of Charlotte from 2013–2022, and previously an assistant coach at the University of North Texas from 2012–2013. Before going to North Texas, Lundy was the Director of Basketball Operations at Marquette University from 2009–2012. He is a native of Galax, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donnie Tyndall</span> American basketball coach

Donald Joseph Tyndall is an American basketball coach currently working as the head coach for Chipola College of the NJCAA. Tyndall played college basketball at Iowa Central Community College and Morehead State and has been a basketball coach since 1994. His teams are known for pressing and playing an unconventional match-up zone, a highly successful variation of the defensive system employed by coach Rick Pitino at Louisville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball</span> College sports team

The New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represents New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1904, the Aggies compete in Conference USA after spending 18 seasons in the Western Athletic Conference from 2005 through 2023. The Aggies, who last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2022, are one of 34 college basketball teams with multiple NBA retired jerseys from former players and a team that reached the NCAA Final Four. The team plays home games in the Pan American Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charleston Cougars men's basketball</span> NCAA Division I college basketball team

The Charleston Cougars men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team representing the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. The Cougars compete in the Coastal Athletic Association. Home games are played at TD Arena, located on College of Charleston's campus. While a member of the NAIA, they were National Champions in 1983. The Cougars have appeared seven times in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 2024.

Michael Jerome Bernard is a former American basketball coach and player. He played college basketball at Kentucky State. He was selected in the 1970 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals.

The Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team represents the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in NCAA Division I basketball. Charlotte is a member of the American Athletic Conference, which they joined in 2023 after 10 seasons in Conference USA. Charlotte, which had been a charter C-USA member from 1995, returned to that conference in 2013 after leaving in 2005 to join the Atlantic 10 Conference. The 49ers have also played in the Sun Belt Conference and were a member of the Metro Conference, which merged with the Great Midwest Conference to form Conference USA.

The Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Horizon League for the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. They play their home games at UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and are currently coached by Bart Lundy. The Panthers have made four NCAA Tournament tournament appearances, most recently in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queens Royals</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Queens University of Charlotte

The Queens Royals are the athletic teams that represent Queens University of Charlotte, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, in NCAA intercollegiate sporting competitions. On July 1, 2022, the Royals began a four-year transition from NCAA Division II to Division I as new members of the ASUN Conference. Before then, Queens had competed in the South Atlantic Conference for 20 of their varsity sports; the men's and women's swimming and diving teams competed in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference and the men's volleyball team competed in the Independent Volleyball Association, a scheduling alliance among schools that are independents in that sport's National Collegiate division. Queens had been a member of the SAC since 2013, when it moved from Conference Carolinas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Perry</span> American basketball player and coach

Leonard Perry Jr. is an American college basketball coach, who last was the head coach at the University of the Pacific. Originally from Dallas, Perry played college basketball at McLennan Community College and the University of Idaho. As a senior at Idaho playing under head coach Larry Eustachy, Perry was the starting point guard on the 1991 Big Sky Conference Tournament championship team that appeared in the 1991 NCAA Tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Odom</span> American basketball player and coach (born 1974)

Robert Ryan Odom is an American men's college basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the VCU Rams men's basketball team. He was previously the head coach of the Lenoir–Rhyne Bears, the UMBC Retrievers, and the Utah State Aggies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queens Royals men's basketball</span> College basketball team

The Queens Royals men's basketball team represents the Queens University of Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The Royals joined the NCAA Division I ASUN Conference on July 1, 2022 after nine seasons in the Division II South Atlantic Conference. Due to the NCAA's policy on reclassifying programs, the Royals will not be eligible to compete in the NCAA tournament or the NIT until the 2026–27 season.

The 2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball season began with practices in October 2017, followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in late December and concluded in early March.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season</span> American college basketball season

The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020, and concluded on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 18 and concluded on April 5.

Brandon Laird is an American men's basketball coach, currently the associate head coach at Idaho. He was previously the interim head coach of Sacramento State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queens Royals women's basketball</span> College basketball team

The Queens Royals women's basketball team represents the Queens University of Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The Royals joined the NCAA Division I ASUN Conference on July 1, 2022 after 9 seasons in the Division II South Atlantic Conference. Due to the NCAA's policy on reclassifying programs, the Royals will not be eligible to compete in the NCAA tournament or the WNIT until the 2026–27 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022–23 Queens Royals men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2022–23 Queens Royals men's basketball team represented the Queens University of Charlotte in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lions, led by first-year head coach Grant Leonard, played their home games at Curry Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, as first-year members of the ASUN Conference. They finished the season 18–15, 7–11 in ASUN play, to finish in a tie for ninth place. As the No. 9 seed in the ASUN tournament, they defeated Florida Gulf Coast before losing to Kennesaw State in the quarterfinals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023–24 Queens Royals men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2023–24 Queens Royals men's basketball team represented the Queens University of Charlotte during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Royals, led by second-year head coach Grant Leonard, played their home games at Curry Arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina, as second-year members of the ASUN Conference. They finished the season 13–18, 7–9 in ASUN play, to finish in eighth place. As the No. 8 seed in the ASUN tournament, they defeated Florida Gulf Coast in the first round before losing to Stetson in the quarterfinals.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Grant Leonard". Coaches Database.
  2. 1 2 "Grant Leonard". Flagler Saints.
  3. 1 2 "Grant Leonard". Queens Royals.
  4. 1 2 "Leonard promoted to Queens head men's basketball coach". The Charlotte Weekly . March 24, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 White, Herbert L. (April 3, 2022). "Grant Leonard has large shoes to fill as Queens basketball coach". The Charlotte Post .
  6. "Queens University promotes Grant Leonard to head men's basketball coach". Queen City News . March 23, 2022.
  7. Zietlow, Alex (January 6, 2023). "In first Division I season, Queens makes it clear to Charlotte and beyond: 'We belong'" . The Charlotte Observer .
  8. 1 2 "Queens' Grant Leonard Signs Four-Year Contract". Queens Royals. May 16, 2023.
  9. "Grant Leonard Coaching Record". Sports-Reference.com .
  10. "Queens University head basketball coach suspended following DWI charge". WBTV. November 4, 2022.
  11. Cox, Kallie (November 4, 2022). "Queens University basketball coach gets benched for first 5 games after DWI charge" . The Charlotte Observer .