Michael P. Leaf (June 7, 1961 – August 19, 2019) was an American

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 ...

coach. He is known for his tenure as head coach at

Winona State University Winona State University is a public university in Winona, Minnesota, United States. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the fi ...

, where he won two

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

National titles. Leaf attended Cotter High School in

Winona, Minnesota Winona ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf (Winona, Minnesota), Sugar Loaf. The population was 2 ...

, graduating in 1979. He went on to obtain his undergraduate degree from

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUMN) is a private Catholic university with its primary campuses in Winona and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It comprises an undergraduate residential college in Winona; graduate and professio ...

, where he played two years of basketball and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. He became a high school tennis coach at his alma mater before accepting a role as an assistant basketball coach at Winona State prior to the 1987–88 season. He spent 11 seasons as an assistant for Jerry Nauman and Les Wothke and was named head coach when Wothke resigned in 1998. Leaf was the head coach at Winona State for 17 seasons. During his time, he led the Warriors to a 382–152 record, becoming the school's winningest coach. During a three-year stretch from 2005 to 2008, Leaf's Warriors won two NCAA Division II championships (2006 and 2008) and went 105–6. In the 2007–08 season, behind NABC National Player of the Year John Smith, the Warriors went 38–1 to set a Division II single-season win record. Additionally, the team won 57 consecutive games from 2006 to 2007. He resigned as head coach during the 2015 offseason following an accusation that he made a sexual advance on a player. Leaf died on August 19, 2019.

References

External links

Winona State Warriors coaching bio
1961 births 2019 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Minnesota Basketball players from Minnesota College men's basketball head coaches in the United States College men's tennis players in the United States People from Winona, Minnesota Saint Mary's Cardinals men's basketball players Winona State University alumni Winona State Warriors men's basketball coaches {{US-basketball-coach-stub