Roshown McLeod is coming home.
McLeod, 34, a native of Jersey City, was named Tuesday by Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Headmaster Fr. Edwin Leahy as the new basketball coach for the Gray Bees.
The former NBA player, who played for the legendary Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and Bob Hurley Sr. at St. Anthony, will succeed Dan Hurley, who stepped down as St. Benedict’s coach after nine seasons to assume the coaching duties at Wagner College.
“We had the privilege of talking to some really outstanding candidates, but I believe we have a guy in Roshown who knows what it means to be successful and who seems to have a great heart and is ready to be part of our community,” said Fr. Edwin. “He’s been associated with some great leaders and coaches throughout his career and I expect him to continue our tradition of helping players become quality young men.”
McLeod was an assistant coach at Indiana University for the last two years and expects to make the move from Bloomington back to New Jersey by the end of the month.
“It’s time to come back home,” said McLeod. “I’ve been around the world and gotten so much out of basketball. It’s now my turn to give back what I’ve learned through the years.
“The fact that St. Benedict’s wasn’t just looking for a coach is what really impressed me. They were looking for someone to teach children to become young men. I want to be able to share my experiences with them and be able to show them what their options are and guide them into the future. It was a spiritual calling.”
McLeod was the 20th player selected in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks in 1998. His NBA career, however, was curtailed due to knee and achilles injuries in 2002. He played with the Hawks (1998-01), Philadelphia (01) and Boston (01-02) while averaging 7.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in 113 career games.
Following a four-year NBA career, McLeod became an assistant coach at Fairfield University. He also has some prep/high school experience, having coached at Woodward Academy and Therrell High School while being involved at the AAU level in Georgia before becoming an assistant at Indiana.
McLeod will now have the ability to the put to the test what he has learned from Hall of Fame coaches Bob Hurley Sr., Krzyzewski, Lenny Wilkens (Atlanta) and Larry Brown (Philadelphia).
“I have been blessed,” said McLeod. “Having gone through programs like St. Anthony and Duke and playing under some of the coaches I had in the pros, I think I can draw upon all of them and pass some of their techniques onto the kids I will now be coaching.”
McLeod played at St. Anthony, as did the former Gray Bees coach, Danny Hurley. He helped led the Friars to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title in 1991 and ’93 and was named to The Star-Ledger All-State team. He played his first two seasons of college ball at St. John’s before transferring to Duke, where he was the first transfer player signed by Krzyzewski.
After posting 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds in 57 games at St. John’s, he averaged 13.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in two years at Duke, leading the Blue Devils in scoring in 1997-98. He was named first team All-ACC and honorable mention All-America as a senior when, as co-captain, he averaged 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game when Duke finished 32-4 and made it to the regional final and lost to eventual champion Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.
He earned a degree in psychology from Duke.
“I expect him to be able to carry on the tradition that we started in the beginning of the century with Frank Hill and continued all the way until Hurley,” said Fr. Edwin. “Roshown’s been associated with some great leaders. We’ll find out soon enough if he’s learned his lessons well.”
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