Last year, when many assumed that Pete Gillen's tenure as Virginia basketball's head coach was coming to a close, rumors flew that the new Virginia coach would be a big name. Finally, after a search that lasted a little over one month, Dave Leitao was named the new head coach.
Although Leitao may not be the big name many expected, he does have an impressive resume: an 80-69 record as a head coach at both DePaul and Northeastern, playoff trips in 18 of his 21 seasons as a coach and a national championship as an associate head coach at Connecticut in 1999.
"I feel extremely blessed to have this opportunity," Leitao said. "If you knew my background, where I came from, I'm probably not supposed to be here. Now that I am here getting ready to lace it up against the likes of Mike Krzyzewski, Gary Williams, Roy Williams and some of the other great coaches in this league, it is obviously no small task. But it is a challenge that has come at a great time in my professional life and my personal life too."
Leitao is going to great lengths to meet that challenge by changing the attitude of Virginia basketball. Team practice starts at 6 a.m. Discipline is stressed; rules are followed. It is a far cry from the lackadaisical Cavalier teams of recent memory.
"There are a lot of rules and regulations we have to abide by," Virginia point guard and co-captain Sean Singletary said, adding that discipline is the biggest difference between this season and last.
Singletary also said he knows about the type of attitude that Leitao expects off the court. At this year's ACC Media Day, Singletary and J.R. Reynolds were two of the few players who wore a suit and tie to the event.
"They asked me what they should wear, and I told them a suit and tie would be best," Leitao said.
It's the little things that count on and off the court for Leitao, which is why he stresses defense and rebounding to his team. It would serve his players well to listen to the 45-year-old Leitao -- as a head coach, Leitao only has had one losing season.
"We have to get in the gym and see who trusts each other," Leitao said. "But I think [the players] realize to be better than they were defensively [last season] is something that we will have to do."
Another of Leitao's goals is to put his name up with the other coaching giants who currently dominate the ACC. He certainly doesn't lack experience -- his first game as a head coach was against Krzyzewski at Cameron Indoor Stadium back on Nov. 26, 1994. Leitao's Northeastern team lost 93-70, but the experience of a road game at Duke will come in handy when Leitao leads his Cavalier team there Jan. 28. As an assistant, Leitao again squared off against Krzyzewski when Connecticut won the 1999 NCAA championship game against Duke. Recently, at DePaul, Leitao matched wits with Rick Pitino, John Calipari and Bob Huggins in Conference USA. While that experience will help, Leitao knows that ACC basketball is something completely different.
"Where else would you rather be? You're in the ACC, the most talked about, revered, respected league in America," Leitao said. "And you have a chance to do some special things now and in the future."
Leitao said he knows his first season in Charlottesville may be rough, but he is ready for the long haul and hopes to bring Virginia basketball back to the levels of respect that have marked the program's history.
"The timing is good," Leitao said. "What makes the job so appealing is getting to close one chapter of Virginia basketball and University Hall ... and starting a new one."
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