State College Area High School girls basketball coach Chris Leazier is headed back to the college ranks.
Leazier has joined the University of North Carolina women’s basketball staff as director of scouting and video operations, Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart announced this week.
Banghart and Leazier previously worked together on the staff at Dartmouth from 2003-07, one of a number of stops during Leazier’s diverse 25-year coaching career.
‘I’m thrilled to be joining the North Carolina women’s basketball staff,’ Leazier said in a UNC news release. ‘I was fortunate to work with Coach Banghart between 2003-2007 on the staff at Dartmouth College, and have been thoroughly impressed by the unprecedented success she achieved at Princeton, and the foundation she has built for future success at UNC. She has distinguished herself as one of the game’s premier coaches, and I’m excited to assist her, her staff, and the student-athletes to achieve their goals for the program.’
Leazier led State College to a District 6 championship in 2017.
Prior to becoming the Lady Little Lions head coach in 2016, in addition to his time as an assistant coach at Dartmouth, Leazier spent three years as the head men’s coach at Vermont Technical College and two years as the head women’s coach at Saint Anselm College. He also was a scout in the NBA G League and was an assistant coach and team manager for the Nigerian men’s basketball team at the 2016 Olympics.
Banghart, who is beginning her second year as Tar Heel head coach, cited Leazier’s video editing and analysis expertise and coaching experience.
‘Chris Leazier is the perfect addition to this already special staff,’ Banghart said. ‘His role will be to ensure that our video and scouting systems are the best in the ACC. Chris has been involved with the game of basketball at the highest levels, to include the NBA, WNBA, the NBA G League, and the collegiate game… While he already understands the systems we have in place, he’ll make us better and more efficient in all areas. He’s a great teacher, a great teammate and an even better person. It’s with such excitement that we add Chris to our Tar Heel family.’
