Dave Leitao
Dave Leitao (born May 18, 1960)
Teams coached: Northeastern Huskies, DePaul Blue Demons, Virginia Cavaliers, Maine Red Claws
Northeastern record: 22-35 (.386)
Virginia record: 63-60 (.512)
DePaul record: 127-146 (.465)
Overall record^: 212-241 (.468)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2 (2004, 2007)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 3 (2003, 2005, 2006)
- CBI Championships: 0 (Runner-up in 2019)
- CBI Appearances: 2 (2008, 2019)
- ACC Regular Season Champion: 1 (2007)
- Conference USA Regular Season Champion: 1 (2004)
Awards:
- ACC Coach of the Year: 1 (2007)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2015-2021 | DePaul |
| 2014-2015 | Tulsa (asst) |
| 2012-2014 | Missouri (asst) |
| 2011-2012 | Maine Red Claws |
| 2005-2009 | Virginia |
| 2002-2005 | DePaul |
| 1996-2002 | Connecticut (asst) |
| 1994-1996 | Northeastern |
| 1986-1994 | Connecticut (asst) |
| 1984-1986 | Northeastern (asst) |
Dave Leitao Facts
- David Antonio Leitao, Jr.
- Born May 18, 1960
- Hometown: New Bedford, Massachusetts
- Alma Mater: Northeastern University (BS, 1983)
- The Mass-native played for the Northeastern Huskies for Hall of Fame head coach Jim Calhoun
- Spent a total of 16 seasons as an assistant to Calhoun, two at Northeastern and fourteen at UConn (two separate stints)
- In between assistant stints, Leitao was the head coach at alma mater Northeastern for two seasons
- Was on the UConn staff in 1999 when Calhoun and the Huskies won their first NCAA National Championship
- First arrived at DePaul in 2002, coaching the Blue Demons for three seasons
- Won 58 games and went to one NCAA Tournament and two NITs during this first stint in Chicago
- Left DePaul for Virginia in 2005, winning 63 games in four seasons with the Cavaliers
- Won a share of the ACC title in 2007, reaching that NCAA Tournament that year but in none of the other three
- Resigned in March 2009 following a 10-18 (4-12) 11th place ACC finish
- Was the head coach of the Maine Red Claws of the NBDL for one season (2011-12), going 21-29 overall
- Spent the next three seasons – two at Missouri and one at Tulsa – as an assistant under Frank Haith
- Returned to DePaul in 2015 to become the head coach for the second time
- Won just nine or ten games in each of his first three seasons before going 15-15 (7-11) in year four
- Led the Blue Demons to a runner-up finish in the 2019 CBI
- In March 2020, DePaul reached an agreement with Leitao to extend his contract through the 2023-24 season
- A year later, new AD DeWayne Peevy fired Leitao as head coach he was 66-113 in his second stint (127-146 overall) at DePaul
- Won just nine or ten games in each of his first three seasons before going 15-15 (7-11) in year four
Dave Leitao Coaching Tree
- Bill Courtney (Cornell)
- Gene Cross (Erie BayHawks, Toledo)
- Shane Heirman (Incarnate Word)
- Rob Lanier (Rice, SMU, Georgia State)
- Patrick Sellers (Central Connecticut)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only
