Tulsa Assistant Dave Leitao Named Coach At DePaul

DePaul University named University of Tulsa assistant coach Dave Leitao as the school's new head basketball coach, it was announced today.

Leitao completed his first season on the Golden Hurricane coaching staff and spent the last three years as an assistant coach under Tulsa's Frank Haith.

“I'm excited for Dave and his family for this opportunity to return to DePaul as the school's head coach,” said Haith. “Dave did an excellent job for us at both Missouri and Tulsa. He has outstanding basketball knowledge and his personality and relationship-building ability are significant to him being such a tremendous coach.”

Leitao returns to the school where he served as head coach before, leading the Blue Demons to a 58-34 record in three seasons (2002-05). In the 2002-03 season, Leitao led DePaul to a seven-game improvement in wins with a 16-13 record and an appearance in the postseason NIT. His 2004 team shared the Conference USA championship and qualified for the NCAA Tournament, while the 2005 Blue Demon squad reached the NIT second round.

Leitao also served as head coach at his alma mater, Northeastern University (1994-96), and the University of Virginia (2005-09).