Andre Levingston is an American entrepreneur and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach. He was formerly an auto detailer and schoolteacher. He is a co-founder of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; ) was a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketball League teams joined with four new franchis ...

(NBL) and most recently served as the owner and president of the

Halifax Rainmen The Halifax Rainmen were a professional basketball team based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. They played in the Atlantic Division of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL) and their home games took place at the Scotiabank Centre, form ...

. Levingston has experience as the president of the

Premier Basketball League The Premier Basketball League (PBL) is an American professional men's basketball minor league that began play in January 2008. The league folded after the 2017 season. It was announced that the league would be revived under new management for t ...

(PBL).

Early life

Levingston was brought up in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

in the 1970s. He attended

California State University, Chico California State University, Chico (Chico State) is a public university in Chico, California. It was founded in 1887 as one of about 180 "normal schools" founded by state governments in the 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing ...

, where he played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

at the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

level. He graduated from school with a degree in child psychology. This led him to becoming a schoolteacher. Among his first jobs was teaching fourth grade at the Paul Robeson Academy, a predominantly male

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

school in his hometown of Detroit. He said, "We were losing too many black boys to the streets, to violence, to jail. There were a lot of single parents, women ran homes, and when (kids) came to school it was all women. We wanted them to see positive men. It was an amazing school, one of the best things I've ever been a part of." Levingston later became an entrepreneur and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, where he owned a restaurant and a car custom shop with

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

player

Morris Peterson Morris Russell Peterson Jr. (born August 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans, earning Bi ...

. At this time, Levingston was requested to create a professional basketball team in

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

, but he decided that he would start one in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, a city that he and his business partners felt had more potential. He became convinced after meeting Halifax mayor

Peter J. Kelly Peter J. Kelly (born 1956 or 1957) is a municipal civil servant, businessman and former politician. Kelly is the former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, who was fired in May 2022. He is a forme ...

Career

Levingston then served as the owner and president of the Rainmen in the 2007–08 season, when the team played in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA). He continued to hold the position as his team moved to the

(PBL).

Personal

Levingston has two sons, Stephon and Tyrone. In sixth grade, Stephon was adopted by Levingston. Tyrone attempted to establish a professional basketball franchise based in

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...

in the

(NBL) in the fall of 2015. However, he failed to properly finance the

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

team and they would not compete in the 2015–16 season. He has since funded the team and they have played in Cape Breton, 2018- 2019 is their third season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levingston, Andre Living people American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Michigan Chico State Wildcats men's basketball players National Basketball League of Canada commissioners Schoolteachers from Michigan Sportspeople from Detroit Year of birth missing (living people)