Leon Douglas (born August 26, 1954) is an American

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 and former professional player. He played seven seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) before transitioning to an extensive professional career overseas in Europe. After retiring, Douglas went into coaching, leading several HBCU programs in his home state of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in his career.

Amateur career

Born in Leighton, Alabama, Douglas played high school basketball at Colbert County High School, and was named a Parade All-American in his 1971-72 senior year. He played collegiately at

, where he was a two-time All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

first-team selection and two-time SEC Player of the Year. Douglas played at Alabama for coach CM Newton, who would start five black players in a time of racial turbulence and progress. Douglas said, "We knew Coach Newton (signed us) because he wanted to win. He wasn't trying to be a trailblazer. You have to respect a man for putting five black starters on the court when others said it was a no-no." On December 28, 1973, in a 65–55 win at

Louisville Cardinals men's basketball The Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team is the men's college basketball program representing the University of Louisville (U of L) in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) of NCAA Division I. The Cardinals have officially won two NCAA cham ...

, Newton started Douglas, Charles "Boonie" Russell, Charles Cleveland, T.R. Dunn and

Ray Odums Ray Odums (born October 30, 1951) is a football player who played in the CFL and USFL. He played defensive back (DB). From 1975 to 1984 Odums was DB for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and the Calgary Stampeders. ...

for the first all-black starting line-up in SEC history, and a team that would win the SEC season title. Douglas helped Alabama to new heights, reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history in 1975, and then following up in the 1976 NCAA tournament with the program's first post-season victory, a 79–64 victory over

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, with Douglas scoring 35 points. The team would lose in the next round, 74–69, to eventual national champion

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and finished the season ranked 6th in polls. In his senior year, he averaged a double-double of 20.6 ppg and 12.4 rpg, and was named a third team All-American. Douglas was also a member of the United States national basketball team that won a gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games.

Professional career

Douglas was the first Crimson Tide player to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft when he was chosen fourth overall by the Detroit Pistons in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. He went on to play four years (1976–1980) with the Pistons, peaking with averages of 11.4 ppg and 8.5 rpg in the 1978–79 Detroit Pistons season, backing up Hall of Famer Bob Lanier, who called Douglas, "One of the strongest men I ever played against." Douglas was plagued by a tendency to commit personal fouls with his physical style of play, finishing three seasons (1976–1979) in the top-20 of fouls committed, all while playing as a reserve. Also, relative to his draft position and the depth of the 1976 draft, the selection of Douglas would come to be viewed with some frustration as four Hall of Fame players ( Adrian Dantley,

Robert Parish Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player. A 7'1" Center (basketball), center, nicknamed "the Chief", Parish played for four teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1976 to 199 ...

, Alex English and Dennis Johnson) were all selected after Douglas. He then signed as a veteran free agent with the Kansas City Kings in 1980, with Detroit receiving a compensatory pick in return, which they used to draft Kelly Tripucka in the

1981 NBA draft The 1981 NBA draft was the 35th annual NBA draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1981, before the 1981–82 NBA season, 1981–82 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the NBA ...

. Douglas played for the Kings as a reserve through the start of the 1982-83 Kansas City Kings season, when he was released, bringing his NBA career to a close. Over seven NBA seasons, Douglas averaged 7.9 ppg and 6.5 rpg. Douglas then pursued overseas opportunities, initially with Limoges CSP in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, helping the team to win the 1983-84 LNB Pro A league title, and then in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with Fortitudo Bologna (1984–87) and then with Olimpia Basket Pistoia (1987–91) where, for two seasons (1987–1989) he paired with Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, who was raising his son Kobe Bryant. Kobe would work at the games as a ball and mop boy and would practice shooting at halftime, with Douglas sharing, "At every one of our games at halftime, it was the Kobe show. He'd get out there and get his shot up. We'd come out of the locker room at halftime and have to chase him off the court". Douglas finished his playing career with Pallacanestro Trieste in 1992.

Coaching career

Douglas would return to basketball and became the head coach at Stillman College in 2004. In his first two seasons at Stillman, Douglas led the Tigers to the 2006 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament. He also coached the semi-professional Magic City King Courts (Magic City is a nickname for

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

) of the World Basketball Association for their 2005 season. The team withdrew from the WBA in 2006 and was later suspended. Douglas then left Stillman in 2006 to become the head basketball coach at Tuskegee University. The Tuskegee Golden Tigers won three SIAC titles with Douglas at the helm and in his final season, advanced to the Elite Eight in the 2014 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament, the furthest an SIAC school had advanced in tournament history. Douglas won the 2014 NCAA Division II Coach of the Year award, despite having been suspended for six games in the season after two players suffered heat exhaustion in pre-season workouts, and would then leave the university after a contract dispute. After his departure from Tuskegee, Douglas was hired as the head basketball coach at Miles College in 2014. In his second season, Miles won 17 games, more than the school had won in the previous three years combined. Still, he was dismissed after his third season with an overall record of 27–57. After overcoming a cancer diagnosis, Douglas coached the basketball program at Cordova High School in Cordova, Alabama, starting in 2019. He was replaced by his assistant coach, Nathan Sanders, in 2020. Douglas also hosted a youth basketball clinic in his home state in 2021. Douglas was appointed as head coach of the boys' basketball team at Barbour County High School for the 2023–24 season.

Personal life

Douglas appeared as a member of the Detroit team in the cult classic basketball film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh in 1979 alongside Pistons teammates Lanier, Eric Money, John Shumate, Chris Ford, and Kevin Porter. Douglas was inducted into the Colbert County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. His younger brother John Douglas played college basketball for

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, played two seasons in the NBA for the San Diego Clippers and then joined his brother to play in Europe.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 82 , , , , 19.8 , , .479 , , , , .555 , , 6.4 , , .8 , , .5 , , 1.0 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , , , 25.2 , , .481 , , , , .641 , , 7.4 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .6 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , , , 28.4 , , .490 , , , , .634 , , 8.5 , , .9 , , .5 , , .7 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 70 , , , , 25.5 , , .486 , , .000 , , .676 , , 7.2 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , .9 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kansas City , 79 , , , , 17.2 , , .573 , , .000 , , .548 , , 4.9 , , .9 , , .3 , , .5 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kansas City , 63 , , 17 , , 17.3 , , .500 , , – , , .400 , , 4.6 , , .6 , , .2 , , .6 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kansas City , 5 , , 0 , , 9.2 , , .667 , , – , , .000 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , .0 , , .6 , , .8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 456 , , 17 , , 22.2 , , .495 , , .000 , , .601 , , 6.5 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .7 , , 7.9

Playoffs

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !3P% !FT% !RPG !APG !SPG !BPG !PPG , - , style="text-align:left;", 1977 , style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 19.0 , , .308 , , , , .286 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 1.7 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1981 , style="text-align:left;", Kansas City , 15 , , 21.2 , , .469 , , – , , .429 , , 4.3 , , .7 , , .3 , , .2 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 18 , , 20.8 , , .422 , , – , , .405 , , 4.2 , , .8 , , .3 , , .4 , , 3.1

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Leon 1954 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen African-American basketball coaches Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Alabama Basketball players at the 1975 Pan American Games Basketball players from Alabama Centers (basketball) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players High school basketball coaches in Alabama Kansas City Kings players Lega Basket Serie A players Limoges CSP players Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Miles Golden Bears men's basketball coaches New York Nets draft picks Olimpia Basket Pistoia players Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Colbert County, Alabama Power forwards Reyer Venezia players Stillman Tigers men's basketball coaches Tuskegee Golden Tigers men's basketball coaches Virtus Bologna players