SCSU Hoops

! It's 		Zoran

Senior Zoran Kos
HEAD COACH ART LEARY

In his 24th season as Southern Connecticut State University’s head coach, Art Leary guided his team to to the finest season in Southern history in 1996-97. The Owls had a 28-4 won-lost record, won the NCAA Northeast regional, and advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Louisville, KY before losing to eventual national champion Cal. State - Bakersfield, 65-62.

Southern has enjoyed its greatest basketball success under Leary’s tutelage. The Owls reached NCAA Division II postseason tournaments in 1981-82 and 1982-83. The Owls just missed a postseason birth in 1995-96, finishing with a 17-12 record. Last year's squad finished 25-4, ranked #4 in the final Division II national poll and made it all the way to the NCAA regional semifinals. In 22 seasons, Leary’s teams have a 324-307 record. Southern’s 28 wins in 1996-97 eclipsed the previous record of 23 in 1982-83.

A Meriden native, Leary was basketball captain and most valuable player at Platt High School, earning all-CCIL and honorable mention All-State honors as a senior. He went on to star at Quinnipiac College, helping his teams to NAIA regional tournaments in his junior and senior years. Leary is a member of the Quinnipiac College hall of fame and is among the Braves’ all-time scoring leaders with 1,178 points.

The former Quinnipiac captain spent seven seasons as the primary aide to Braves’ Coach Burt Kahn and established a reputation as one of the region’s top recruiters. He helped guide the Braves to a pair of NAIA New England titles, three ECAC Division II-II championships and one NCAA Division II tournament.

Leary, a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, is a professor at Southern with an emphasis in sports management.

He and his wife, Nancy, have two sons- A.J., a 1992 graduate of Catholic University, and Brendan, the all-time leading scorer at Wesleyan University and a former Owl assistant Coach.

THE LEARY YEARS