Leon Douglas enters his third season as the head coach of Miles men’s basketball team, looking to lead the Golden Bears to their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2001-02. Last season, he led the team to 17 wins, which was more than the program’s last three seasons combined.
In 12 seasons as a head coach, he has a 173-176 record coaching at Miles, Tuskegee and Stillman. He has three 20-win seasons and has won three Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships: with Stillman in 2006 and twice with Tuskegee (2010, 2014). In two seasons at Miles, he is 20-37.
The Leighton, Ala., native earned a bachelor of science degree in social work from the University of Alabama in 1976; and during his Crimson Tide basketball career he was a four-time All-SEC selection, the first Alabama player to achieve this distinction since Jerry Harper earned it in 1953-1956. During Douglas' impressive collegiate career he was a first-team All-American selection by the United States Basketball Writers Association in 1975 and 1976, and SEC Player of the Year in 1975 and 1976. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 17.2 points and 11.5 rebounds in 111 college games.
Douglas was also a member of the Gold Medal 1976 United States Pan American Team that played in Mexico City, Mexico. A player of distinction, Douglas was Alabama's first, first round NBA draft pick, selected fourth overall by the Detroit Pistons in 1976. Douglas played four years with the Pistons and then joined the Kansas City Kings from 1980 to 1983. He also played in Europe for several years after his time in the NBA ended. Douglas' stellar career led him to being inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Prior to coming to Miles, Douglas led the Tuskegee basketball program from 2006-2014. In his final season, he led the Golden Tigers to unprecedented success as his team won the South Region championship and advanced to the Elite Eight, the furthest an SIAC school has ever gone in the NCAA Division II basketball tournament.
In 2010, the Tuskegee Golden Tigers, under Douglas' tutelage, won the SIAC Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA playoffs. They would finished the season with a 20-11 record. Prior to joining Tuskegee, Douglas spent the 2004-2006 seasons coaching at Stillman, where he led the Tigers to the 2005-2006 SIAC Tournament Championship in the school’s first season of eligibility.
