Dave Leitao

David Antonio Leitao Jr. (born May 18, 1960) is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach for City Reapers of Overtime Elite (OTE).

He has previously been the head coach of the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League, DePaul University, the University of Virginia, and his alma mater; Northeastern University.

The 6'7" forward was recruited by Jim Calhoun to play basketball at Northeastern University. From 1978 to 1982 Leitao played at Northeastern, where he averaged 6.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. The teams made it to the NCAA tournament twice, and posted an overall 79-34 record. Leitao is a brother of the Omicron chapter of Iota Phi Theta fraternity.

Leitao was recruited by Calhoun to join his staff at Northeastern University in 1984, and followed him to the University of Connecticut as an assistant from 1986 to 1994.

He returned to serve as head coach at his alma mater, Northeastern University, from 1994 to 1996.

Leitao returned to Calhoun's staff for six seasons, including the Huskies national championship in 1999.

He secured the head coaching position at DePaul University on April 16, 2002, six weeks after his predecessor Pat Kennedy had resigned from the position on March 5.

The Blue Demons qualified for the postseason in each of Leitao's three years at DePaul, appearing in the NIT in 2003 and 2005 and the NCAA tournament in 2004.

His overall record with the Blue Demons after those three seasons was 58–34.

He inherited a team that finished last in the ACC in 2004–05.

Jerry Wainwright succeeded him on April 28, 2005.

Leitao replaced Pete Gillen when the University of Virginia bought out the final five years of Leitao's contract with DePaul on April 15, 2005.

He became the first person of African descent to coach any varsity sport in Virginia Cavaliers history.

Leitao was hired by Virginia's Craig Littlepage, the first African-American athletics director in ACC history.

He was named the 2006–07 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year by the Associated Press, but finished at 10th and 11th place in the conference during his final two years with the Virginia Cavaliers.

With its core returning and a new group of recruits, Virginia looked to turn its fortunes around in 2006–07.

Leitao started his second year with the opening of the new John Paul Jones arena and an upset win over Arizona.

Led by Sean Singletary and J. R. Reynolds, Virginia finished with an 11–5 conference record and a share of the ACC regular season title with North Carolina.

Memorable wins came over Duke, with Sean Singletary's fadeaway floater and stare on ESPN, while memorable losses came in Puerto Rico and last place Wake Forest.

This was Leitao's best year with the Cavaliers.

The team completed the 2006-2007 season with a record of 21–11 (11–5 ACC).

On March 6, 2007, Leitao was voted as the 2007 ACC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in conjunction with the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association.

Two days later, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) named Dave Leitao the 2007 District 5 Coach of the Year.

In the NCAA tournament, the #4 seeded Cavaliers defeated the University at Albany in the first round in an 84–57 rout.

In the second round, Sean Singletary's last-second shot bounced off the rim and the Cavaliers were defeated by the University of Tennessee in a 77–74 loss.

Leitao's third season (2007–2008) was marked with close losses and early injuries to the team's top two frontcourt players, Tunji Soroye and Laurynas Mikalauskas; the two injured players only appeared in two games and sixteen games, respectively.

The team attained a 4–3 record with Mikalauskas in the line-up versus a 1–8 record with him injured.

Without these two players, the Cavaliers proceeded to lose seven games by two points or less or in overtime; the team ended the season with a record of 17–16 (5–11 ACC).

However, as injured players began to return to the team, the Cavaliers won six of their final ten games, and advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.

He resigned as the Virginia basketball coach on March 18, 2009.

Leitao is Cape Verdean American.

He was the first coach of African descent to coach any varsity sport in University of Virginia history.

His first season at Virginia, with only seven scholarship players, the Cavaliers were picked last in the ACC by reporters, but surprisingly finished in a 7th place tie at 15–15 overall, 7–9 in the ACC and a berth in the NIT.

Getting contributions from little known front court players including Jason Cain and Tunji Soroye, Virginia was able to upset #23 North Carolina on Jan. 19.

Most of the season's success was due to All-ACC first team Sean Singletary, who carried the team with JR Reynolds.

This year also marked the last year at University Hall for the Cavaliers.

Labeled as the "Last Ball At U-Hall", Virginia was ready to move into the new state of the art John Paul Jones Arena right next door.

This marked the end of an era that Ralph Sampson built, bringing flashbacks and reunions to mark the final season at University Hall.

The year finished with a disappointing loss to Maryland to close out U-Hall and a blowout loss at Stanford in the NIT.

At this point, things were looking up for Leitao and the Virginia Cavaliers.