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Thursday, June 9, 2005
Former
Blue Hose Leopard Tabbed as Lady Paladin Assistant Coach
GREENVILLE, SC — Furman women's basketball coach Sam Dixon announced on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 the hiring of former Chattanooga assistant Toni Leopard as a member of the Lady Paladin basketball staff. Leopard replaces Furman assistant Ali Jaques, who resigned in May to accept a coaching position with the University of Dayton. |
"Toni is
a great coach and has a tremendous personality for
recruiting," said Dixon. "I have observed her over the
last three years and she has been at every event, working hard,
and making contacts. With her background at Presbyterian and her
contacts in South Carolina, she seemed a natural fit for this
position, and it gave us the opportunity to get a young,
outstanding, and enthusiastic coach."
A native of
Greenwood, S.C., Leopard played collegiately at Presbyterian
College, and was a three time all-conference selection who led
the Blue Hose to two South Atlantic Conference tournament titles
and two South Atlantic regular season championships. In
addition, the Blue Hose appeared in three NCAA Division II
Tournaments during Leopard's tenure, including the 1999-2000
season in which PC posted a 28-2 record and was ranked as high
as fourth. During Leopard's career, Presbyterian recorded a
95-25 record with 20 or more wins in each of her four seasons.
As a senior
and team captain in 2002, Leopard earned a spot on the
Daktronics All Region team and led the SAC in free throw
percentage (91.4). She completed her collegiate career as PC's
second leading scorer (1,739 points) and all-time leader in
career free throw percentage (83.4).
After
graduating from Presbyterian in 2002 with a major in elementary
education and a minor in physical education and coaching,
Leopard spent the 2003-04 basketball season as an assistant at
Lander University, helping the Bearcats to a 24-6 record, its
first ever Peach Belt Title and an NCAA Division II Tournament
appearance. Last year, she was an assistant under Wes Moore at
the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, and saw the Mocs post
a 25-5 overall records with a 19-1 mark in Southern Conference
play. In the summer of 2004, Leopard played on the USA Athletes
International Tour in Utrecht, Holland.
Leopard began
her duties at Furman on Monday, May 23.