In 2022-23 Grant Leep enters his seventh season as head men's basketball coach at Seattle Pacific. He is in his 14th year on the staff after serving seven seasons as an assistant coach.
Leep's career record is 114-69 through the 2022-23 campaign. SPU went 17-11 last season, featuring an 11-1 record and a seven-game winning streak. The team was powered by a proficient offense that led the conference in field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage. They also ranked third in conference scoring offense. Natioanlly, the Falcons were sixth in field goal percentage, 11th in posts per possesion and 19th in 3-point field goal percentage. The Falcons went on to finish third in the GNAC, but would be eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament.
SPU had two players named to the GNAC All-Conference team. Along with First Team honors, Shaw Anderson was named D2CCA West Region First Team and the NABC All-District First Team. The Falcons had one selection for the GNAC All-Academic team as well.
Leep directed the Falcons to a 14-13 record in 2021-22, and a sixth-place standing in the GNAC at 7-8.
The Falcons fashioned a fine 10-3 record in the pandemic-condensed 2021 season that was contested entirely between January and March in empty arenas as spectators were not allowed. No conference season was contested and SPU's opportunity to participate in the NCAA Division II Tournament was nixed by a campus rule forbidding out-of-state travel due to Covid-19 concerns.
The 2019-20 campaign was the Falcons finest under Leep. He was honored as the GNAC Coach of the Year after directing the team to a 22-7 overall record with an 18-2 league ledger that topped the GNAC standings. SPU did not get to prove its prowess in the playoffs as the NCAA Tournament was canceled one day before it was scheduled to begin, due to the pandemic.
A 22-7 record n 2018-19 featured a 16-4 conference record for a runner-up regular-season finish. The Falcons captured the 2019 GNAC Tournament title in Bellingham, Wash. with a 78-66 triumph over Northwest Nazarene. Leep's first foray into the NCAA playoffs as a head coach started with a thrilling first-round comeback en route to a 77-75 triumph over Chaminade in San Diego. SPU advanced to the West Region semifinal, but lost 67-63 to Saint Martin's.
SPU posted a 17-12 record in 2017-18, tying for fourth place in the GNAC standings with an 11-9 record. The team defeated host Alaska Anchorage 64-51 in the conference tournament quarterfinals before falling 97-70 to Western Oregon in the semifinals.
The Falcons forged a 12-16 record during his inaugural season as head coach in 2016-17. They tied for ninth place in the GNAC standings with an 8-12 mark.
Leep, 42, has strong basketball connections throughout the Northwest. He was an All-America player at Mount Vernon (Wash.) High School before lettering four years at the University of Washington. His coaching resumé includes stops at Eastern Washington University and a pair of community colleges.
On May 3, 2016, Leep was named SPU’s interim head coach to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Ryan Looney, who left after seven years to assume the head coaching role at Point Loma Nazarene University. That “interim” tag was removed on May 9, 2016.
Leep is the 12th head coach in the 79-year history of the storied program that owned the longest active playoff streak among NCAA Division II men's basketball programs. SPU’s run of 12 consecutive playoff berths stretched from 2005 to 2016.
As the top assistant coach during Looney's entire tenure, Leep helped lead the Falcons to postseason appearances each year while constructing a streak of seven straight 20-win campaigns that is a school record.
The Falcons compiled a 164-51 (.763) record during Leep's time as an assistant coach. Two teams (2012, 2013) advanced to the West Regional championship game of the NCAA Tournament. Seattle Pacific twice won conference regular-season championships, in 2010 and 2014, and captured the GNAC Tournament title three consecutive years, from 2013-15.
Prior to joining the SPU staff on June 23, 2009, Leep served the previous four years as an assistant coach at Eastern Washington. His final two seasons were under Coach Kirk Earlywine after working for Mike Burns the previous two years.
The Eagles posted a 53-66 record during Leep’s four years. During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, he helped develop Rodney Stuckey, who is now a member of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers.
Leep joined the Eastern Washington staff prior to the 2005-06 season after spending two years as an assistant coach at Spokane Community College under former UW assistant coach Eric Hughes. The Sasquatch had a 40-22 record in two seasons with Leep on the staff.
Spokane finished 24-9 in the 2005 season en route to winning the Eastern Region title and placing fourth at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Tournament. In his first year at the school, the Sasquatch finished 16-13.
Leep began his coaching career in 2002-03 with a one-year stint as an assistant at North Seattle Community College, working under Coach Billy Rodgers.
A 2002 Washington graduate in political science, Leep lettered four years for the Huskies from 1999-2002. He captained the team as a senior in 2002 and averaged 7.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a starting forward.
Leep led all Pacific-10 Conference players in 3-point field goal percentage that season, converting a school-record 52.7 percent (39-of-74) of his attempts. Leep also holds the UW record for career 3-point shooting at 42.9 percent (60-of-140).
Following his senior season, Leep was honored with numerous team awards. He received the Hec Edmundson Award (most inspirational) and the Wurster Award (top hustler). He also received recognition for Tyee Sports Council Community Service and the 101 Club Scholar/Athlete Award.
Leep garnered honorable mention prep All-America accolades while at Mount Vernon (Wash.) High School and three times was honored as an all-state selection.
As a senior in the 1998, he averaged 17.3 points per game to lead the Bulldogs to a 25-2 record and a third-place finish at the state Class 3A tournament. He scored 28 points and had 13 rebounds in the final game of his high school career, a 70-56 victory over Mercer Island.
In 1997, Mount Vernon finished 28-1 and lost to Mercer Island in the championship game of the state tournament. He averaged 18.2 points and 8.5 rebounds that season, and 20.1 points and 9.0 rebounds as a sophomore.
Before joining the Huskies, Leep scored 13 points and had 12 rebounds for a group of all-stars from the state of Washington in a 68-67 loss to Oregon in the Northwest Shootout.
Leep is married to the former Allison Richardson, a volleyball standout at Washington. They have two young daughters, Avery and Harper.
Grant Leep's Head Coaching Ledger (through 2022-23 season)
Seattle Pacific University
Year Overall Pct Conference Pct Place Postseason
2016-17 12-16 .429 8-12 .400 9th, tie
2017-18 17-12 .586 11-9 .550 4th, tie GNAC Tournament semifinals
2018-19 22-7 .759 16-4 .800 2nd GNAC Tournament champion, NCAA Tournament 2nd round
2019-20 22-7 .759 18-2 .900 1st NCAA Tournament berth, playoffs canceled due to pandemic
2020-21* 10-3 .769 0-0 .000 n/a no GNAC season
2021-22 14-13 .519 7-8 .467 6th
2022-23 17-11 .607 12-6 .667 3rd GNAC Tournament quarterfinals
Totals 114-69 .622 72-41 .637
* 2020-21 season played entirely in 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic.