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Tuesday,
June 1, 2004 Former
Blue Hose standout Toni Leopard Joins Lady Mocs Basketball
Staff
CHATTANOOGA, TN. — Lady Mocs head basketball coach Wes Moore knows how important it is to have good sales people on his staff as assistant coaches, and Toni Leopard brings the qualities Moore was seeking to keep Chattanooga women’s basketball climbing the charts. |
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Leopard,
an assistant coach at Lander University and former standout at
Presbyterian College, was hired by Moore to replace Kellie
Harper, who recently became head coach at Western Carolina.
“In
any recruiting/sales position, personality and people skills
play a big role,” Moore said. “Toni is off-the-chart in
those areas.”
Leopard
spent last basketball season as assistant coach at Division II
Lander University where the Bearcats won the Peach Belt
Conference Championship for the first time in school history and
advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Lander’s 24-6
record was the best in school history.
“I’ve
known Toni since her high school playing days in South
Carolina,” Moore said. “I am familiar with what kind of
passion she had for the game as a player. She brings that same
passion as an assistant coach.”
As
a player, Leopard helped Presbyterian to three NCAA Division II
Tournament appearances, including a season when the Blue Hose
placed themselves in the record books. Presbyterian went 28-2 in
1999-2000 and was ranked as high as fourth in the nation that
season, both of which were school records. The Blue Hose’s
four-year record during Leopard’s career was 95-25 and the
squad won 20-plus games each season.
Leopard
was a part of two South Atlantic Conference Tournament Titles
and two South Atlantic Regular Season Championships. She was
coached at Presbyterian by Beth Couture, who has been at Butler
for two seasons and coached the Bulldogs to a victory over UTC
last season.
Leopard
was team captain in 2002, a three-time All-SAC selection and she
earned a spot on the 2002 Daktronics All-Region Team. As captain
of the squad in her senior season, Leopard was the SAC
Statistical Champion for free throw percentage (91.4 percent).
She finished her career as Presbyterian’s second-leading
scorer (1,739 points) and ranked No. 1 on Presbyterian’s
career free throw percentage (83.4 percent).
“Toni
has been associated with some coaches who I have great respect
for,” Moore said. “She played for Beth Couture now at Butler
and worked as an assistant for Jonathan Norton at Lander. She
brings a lot of knowledge from her association with those
coaches.”
This
summer, Leopard played on the USA Athletes International Tour in
Utrecht, Holland.