Leonard Perry Jr. (born June 13, 1968) is an American college basketball coach, who is currently an assistant coach at Weber State. He most recently served as the head coach at the University of the Pacific from 2021 to 2024. Originally from

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Perry played college basketball at

McLennan Community College McLennan Community College (MCC) is a Public college, public community college in Waco, Texas. It opened in 1965 and now serves about 9,000 students and has more than 700 employees. It is governed by a board of trustees elected from single-membe ...

and the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

. As a senior at Idaho playing under head coach

Larry Eustachy Larry Robert Eustachy (born December 1, 1955 in Alameda, California) is an American college basketball coach, most recently the head coach of the Colorado State Rams He was previously the head coach at Idaho and Eustachy was the AP Co ...

, Perry was the starting point guard on the 1991 Big Sky Conference Tournament championship team that appeared in the 1991 NCAA Tournament. Perry has been a college basketball coach since 1995, as an assistant under Eustachy at Idaho, Utah State,

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

, and

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agr ...

. From 2001 to 2006, Perry was head coach at Idaho. He also worked for the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

of the NBA for five years, starting as assistant coach in the 2006–07 season and as a scout from 2007 to 2011. From 2016 to 2021, Perry was assistant coach at the University of the Pacific under

Damon Stoudamire Damon Lamon Stoudamire (born September 3, 1973), nicknamed Mighty Mouse, is an American college basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The , ...

. After Stoudamire resigned to take an NBA assistant coaching job, Perry was promoted to head coach at Pacific in 2021.

Early life and education

Born and raised in

, Perry graduated from

Justin F. Kimball High School Justin F. Kimball High School is a Public school (government funded), public secondary school in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It enrolls students in grades 9–12, and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. T ...

in Dallas in 1986. Perry was an honorable mention All-American basketball player at Kimball. From 1986 to 1988, Perry attended

, playing at point guard. Perry transferred to the

in 1988, when

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc., was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp magazine, pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting year ...

ranked Perry among the best junior college transfers in the nation. At Idaho, Perry played under head coach

for

Idaho Vandals men's basketball The Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represents the University of Idaho, located in Moscow, Idaho, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They currently compete in the Big Sky Conference. The Vandals are coached by Alex Pribble and play ho ...

from 1989 to 1991. As a senior, Perry averaged 7.0 points and 2.8 rebounds on an Idaho team that won the 1991 Big Sky Conference Tournament and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. While completing his undergraduate degree, Perry was a student assistant coach at Idaho from 1993 to 1995, again under Eustachy. Perry graduated from Idaho in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in general studies with an emphasis on English.

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1995–2001)

From 1995 to 1998, Perry was an assistant coach at Utah State on Eustachy's staff. Utah State had three straight winning seasons and appeared in the 1998 NCAA Tournament in that time period. Perry then followed Eustachy to

, serving as assistant coach from 1998 to 2000 and associate head coach in the 2000–01 season. The 1999–2000 Iowa State team finished 32–5, advanced to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament, and was ranked no. 6 in the final AP Top 25 poll. Iowa State then had a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Idaho head coach (2001–2006)

Perry was head coach at Idaho from 2001 to 2006. Inheriting a 6–21 team, Perry had a 9–19 record in his first season at Idaho. In the next two seasons, Idaho improved to 13–15 in 2002–03 and 14–16 in 2003–04. However, Idaho won only 12 games in the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons combined, resulting in Idaho firing Perry on March 9, 2006.

Later assistant career (2006–2021)

In the 2006–07 season, Perry was an assistant coach for the

NBA team under

Rick Carlisle Richard Preston Carlisle ( ; born October 27, 1959) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously served as head coach of the Detroi ...

. Perry remained with the Pacers from 2007 to 2011 in a different role as a talent scout; he also directed professional scouting for the NBA and NBA Development League in 2008. Perry returned to coaching as an assistant coach at

in the 2011–12 season, working again under head coach Eustachy. That season, Southern Miss finished 25–9 and appeared in the NCAA Tournament. From 2012 to 2016, Perry was associate head coach at

under Eustachy. The 2012–13 Colorado State team appeared in the NCAA Tournament and had the program's first AP Top 25 ranking since the 1950s. Colorado State later appeared in the

2015 National Invitation Tournament The 2015 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2015 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament is being played on campus sites for the first three ...

. In 2016, Perry became associate head coach for new head coach

at the University of the Pacific. He would serve in that position for five seasons. During Perry's tenure, Pacific improved from 11 wins in 2016–17 to 23 wins in 2019–20.

Pacific head coach (2021–2024)

On July 7, 2021, Pacific promoted Perry to head coach after Stoudamire resigned to be an assistant coach for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. In the 2022–23 season, Pacific went 15–18 overall in Perry's second season as head coach as the team tied for 5th with a record of 7–9 in the WCC.

Personal life

Perry has five children and is married to Christina Erickson, a native of

Mullan, Idaho Mullan is a city in the northwest United States, located in the Silver Valley mining district of northern Idaho. The population was 646 at the 2020 census and 692 at the 2010 census, and 840 in 2000. In Shoshone County at the east end of t ...

, who he met when they attended the University of Idaho.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Pacific Tigers basketball
– Leonard Perry

– Leonard Perry {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Leonard 1968 births Living people American basketball scouts American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from Dallas College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Colorado State Rams men's basketball coaches Guards (basketball) Idaho Vandals men's basketball coaches Idaho Vandals men's basketball players Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Indiana Pacers scouts Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball coaches Junior college men's basketball players in the United States McLennan Highlanders athletes Pacific Tigers men's basketball coaches Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball coaches Utah State Aggies men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen