Ed Leyden Named GNAC Coach of the Year

Suffolk University Women's Basketball Head Coach Ed Leyden was named Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Coach of the Year for the 2012-13 season.

It is the sixth time Leyden has been recognized by his peers as the league's top coach. He guided the Rams to a 21-7 mark during the year as his team set the all-time Suffolk University record for wins in a season by a basketball team. Leyden's Rams' finished with the league's second best mark in-conference play with a 10-2 standing as they advanced to the conference finals for their fourth time before falling to Emmanuel College, 68-45 on Saturday afternoon. The Rams had the league's second stingiest defenses as they only allowed opponents to a 52.5 points per game.

In 20 career seasons as a collegiate Head Coach, Leyden has a career mark of 309-216 (.589 winning percentage).

Earlier this season Leyden won his 300th career collegiate game on January 21 with a 79-52 victory over the Norwich University Cadets.

He has now coached the Rams to 298 victories in 19 seasons with Suffolk. He began his coaching career at Tufts University during the 1993-94 season.

He has coached 22 players in his time at Suffolk who have received All-Conference recognition by the GNAC. Of the 12 players in Women's Basketball program history to record at least 1,000 career points, ten have come under Leyden's tenure, including Suffolk's all-time leading scorer Katie Norton '00 (1,502 points) who was a member of the GNAC's inaugural Hall of Fame Class in 2010 and Suffolk University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.

Leyden was also a recipient of the Suffolk University Leadership Award in 2007, and was named Coach of the Year by the Suffolk University Student Government Association in 2012. This past October he received Suffolk's "Pink Tie Award" handed out to a Suffolk University male during October's Breast Cancer Awareness month to someone who has demonstrated leadership in their support for the cause.

Prior to his collegiate career, Leyden coached high school for 11 years. At Revere High School, his teams were 84-36, a .700 winning percentage. His teams won the Greater Boston League Title his last three seasons, going 44-1 in that stretch. Leyden was selected Coach of the Year twice by the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association. He was also named Boston Globe Coach of the Year. Ten of his former high school players were named captains of their college teams.