Grant Leonard was promoted as the sixth head men’s basketball coach in Queens men’s basketball history in Spring 2022. Leonard, who has been coaching for 20+ years, joined the Royals in 2013 and served as the Associate Head Coach since 2016 before his promotion.

Leonard has been instrumental to the Royals’ success since he arrived on campus in 2016. While an assistant, Queens posted a 2016-52 record, equating to a .798 winning percentage over those eight seasons. The Royals were nationally ranked in the top 25 in all but one of the 112 polls dating back to November 2015. They reached the top 10 in each of the last seven seasons at the Division II level, peaking at Number 1 in January 2018.

Leonard’s first season at the helm of the Royals was their first season at the Division I level and saw immediate success. He led the Royals to their ninth straight 15-win season, were the second highest-scoring offense in the league at 77.7 points per game and led the conference in free throw attempts per game at 21.2. Their physicality saw them end the season as the second-best rebounding team in the conference at 37.3 boards per game. Leonard guided the development of ASUN All-Conference standouts Kenny Dye and AJ McKee. They secured their first ever ASUN Conference Tournament win over Florida Gulf Coast in the opening round before ultimately losing by one to the eventual ASUN Champions from Kennesaw State.

In their last eight seasons at the Division II level, the Royals made seven consecutive Division II NCAA Championship Appearances and reached the Sweet 16 in four of their final six seasons, including four 30-plus win seasons in such time.

The Royals won the 2018 and 2019 Southeast Regional Championships to advance to the Elite 8 in back-to-back seasons, a program record. Leonard also helped lead the Royals to eight consecutive top two finishes in South Atlantic Conference competition.

Leonard has played a key role in recruitment and player development for the Royals throughout his tenure. Twenty-four Royals have played professional basketball throughout his tenure, three have been named NABC All-Americans, ten have earned all-region honors as well as all-conference first-team honors.

Prior to his arrival in Charlotte, Leonard worked at a diverse group of schools across all NCAA divisions. He came to Queens from Paine College where he served many roles including lead assistant coach, recruiting coordinator, director of skill development, and defensive specialist. He helped lead Paine to their first winning season in seven years and his defense was second nationally in blocks per game (7.0)

Prior to Paine, he had stops at Flagler College (2009-10), the University of Texas-Pan American (2006-09), and Washington College (2005-06). While at Flagler, the Saints had their best season to date, accumulating more Peach Belt Conference wins than ever before. While at Texas Pan-American, the program saw an increase in win total during each of his three years with the team. While at Washington, Leonard assisted in leading the program to their first-ever conference tournament victory.

Leonard graduated from William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 2004, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. While at William Penn, he was a two-time Daktronics Academic All-Region Player as well as a two-time Midwest Classic Academic All-Conference Player. Leonard and his wife Haley, reside in Belmont, North Carolina.