Leon Douglas


Leon Douglas is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association and other leagues. A 6–10 ft, 230 lb center at the University of Alabama, he was a four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection, the first Alabama player to achieve this distinction since Jerry Harper earned it in 1953–1956.
Douglas was Alabama's first first round NBA draft pick, selected fourth overall by the Detroit Pistons in 1976. Douglas played four years with the Pistons. He then joined the Kansas City Kings from 1980 to 1983. Douglas was also a member of the Gold Medal 1976 United States Pan American Team that played in Mexico City. He played in the Italian league for more than a decade. Douglas' career led to his induction into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Douglas spent the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons as the head coach at Stillman College, where he led the Tigers to the 2006 SIAC Tournament championship, advancing to the NCAA DII tournament. Douglas led the Tuskegee University basketball program as the head men's basketball coach from 2006 to 2014. He led the Golden Tigers to success as his team were champions of the south region and advanced to the elite eight, the furthest an SIAC school has ever advanced in the NCAA Division II basketball tournament. Douglas was forced to resign in April 2014. He was hired at Miles College, his 4th SIAC school as the men's head basketball coach. His SIAC coaching career ended April 2017 when he was fired from Miles College after his third season as head coach. In 12 seasons as a head coach, he has a 173-176 record coaching at Stillman, Tuskegee and Miles.