Loren Leath, a member of the Sacramento State Men’s Basketball Hall of Fame, is returning to campus to serve as assistant men’s basketball coach, it was announced today by first-year head coach David Patrick.
 
Leath becomes the third assistant hired by Patrick, as he joins associate head coach Michael Czepil and assistant Hays Myers on Sacramento State’s staff.
 
No stranger to the Green and Gold, Leath shined as a shooting guard for the Hornets from 2005-09. He is the program’s fifth all-time leading scorer, including third in the Div. I era (1991-pres.), with 1,489 career points. Leath is the only Hornet during the Div. I era to average double figures in points all four seasons of his career, and is a member of the 2000-10 Hornet all-decade team. A two-time all-Big Sky Conference selection, Leath missed just four games during his career and was inducted into the Sacramento State Men’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
 
Leath averaged better than 11 points per game all four seasons, which included a 17.4 ppg average in Big Sky play as a senior. His 41 points and nine 3-pointers in 2008 at Northern Colorado remain the Hornet Div. I era single-game records. In addition, he buried over 50 3-pointers all four seasons, and his 240 career 3-balls rank first in Sacramento State’s Div. I era, and fourth all-time.
 
Born in Oakland with roots in Los Angeles, Leath has spent the past 10 years with the program he grew up playing for – the AAU powerhouse Oakland Soldiers under the guidance of his uncle and current Soldiers President Mark Olivier. Leath has been with the program over the last decade either as a coach (2012-16) or Vice President (2016-22). The program plays in the Elite Youth Basketball League and has a pair of EYBL championships making the Soldiers one of the few programs in the country that can boast multiple titles.
 
“We are fortunate to have Coach Leath join our staff,” Patrick said. “He has been in the fabric of California youth basketball for many years. To have a former Hornet and a Sacramento State Hall of Famer on our staff is a tremendous asset. Coach Leath has expansive ties not only in California, but nationally as well. He has already made an immediate impact on our program. I have seen him develop as a coach, and he will have a positive impact on our student-athletes.”
 
During Leath’s tenure, the Soldiers have seen over 100 of their players receive Div. I scholarships, and 10 former Soldiers are currently playing in the NBA. In fact, Leath was recently named among the top 100 most impactful people in men’s collegiate basketball by Silver Waves Media. Since becoming Vice President, Leath has created other Soldier chapters throughout California, including San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Stockton and Sacramento. He also started the first women’s program, and dubbed them the Lady Soldiers.
 
Leath got to know Patrick over the last decade, when Patrick recruited a number of Soldiers players.
 
Prior to Sacramento State, Leath was raised back and forth between Oakland and Los Angeles where he attended 15 different schools. He finished his high school career at Cleveland HS in Los Angeles where he was back court mates with eventual 13-year NBA veteran Nick Young. Leath was an all-state, all-city, and all-area selection as a senior at Cleveland.
 
Leath graduated from Sacramento State with a mass media communications degree in 2009. After his collegiate career, he played professionally in France and Spain before eventually turning his attention to coaching.

https://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/releases/20220606om3r7l