There’s no doubting senior guard Troy Leaf’s mark on the Azusa Pacific University record book.
He’ll finish his career among the top 10 in total points, top five in 3-pointers made and top 10 in free throws. He also owns the highest scoring average in the history of the university, and the numbers come in just three seasons of play, after transferring from UC Santa Barbara his sophomore year.
Leaf is the PacWest’s leading scorer, averaging 22.7 points per game this season. He also averages 3.7 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals.
His career points per game is currently 19.7, almost a full point ahead of the current record-holder, Dennis Vanzant, at 18.9.
Leaf’s final year will be rewarded with a PacWest Player of the Year award, there’s no debate about it. Subsequent awards will likely flow to the San Diego native.
“[Athletic Director] Gary Pine, [Sports Information Director] Joe Reinsch [and] other coaches who have been here, love to debate who are the best players who have ever come through,” said head coach Justin Leslie. “Troy’s going to be in that conversation.”
While the record book will reflect his ability to light up a scoreboard, Leaf hopes that the trophy case will be a better representation of his legacy.
Before the season began, he sent a text message to the four other seniors that read, “Freshmen want to play, sophomores want to start, juniors want to score, seniors just want to win.”
The seniors have endured the transitional period from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. They saw the end of a 20-year-long streak of 20 or more wins. They had the first losing season since 1990-91.
It should be noted that this downturn was in many ways orchestrated. Leslie was transforming the program from one that could compete consistently in the NAIA to one that was going to rise to the same high level of success in the NCAA.
However, that didn’t make it easier for the players to endure.
“Man, did I make the right decision to come and be a part of a .500 basketball team?” Leaf thought after the team had gone 13-14 in 2012-13, his sophomore year.
It’s here that his legacy begins.
Photo: Katie Richcreek
“Looking at yourself in the mirror and saying, ‘What can I do to help build this foundation and get this thing rolling the way it should be?’” he said.
Leaf worked that out, getting himself and the team where they needed to be.
“He gave a new identity to the team. He works his tail off, and he carries a passion and overall charisma about him that makes people excited to go to practice every day,” said senior guard Kevin Stafford. “He really reshaped the identity of our team, and he’s a great leader in bringing everybody together.”
It can be said of the seniors that they made the same decision to try to push the program to the level that its history expects, but there’s little doubt Leaf headed the charge.
“He’s set the tone for everybody. That’ll be his legacy: his leadership and pushing everybody to be the best that he can be,” said senior guard Robert Sandoval. “His hard work has really inspired the other guys to put in the extra hours at the gym.”
The Cougars continued their upward trajectory, finishing the 2013-14 season with a 17-10 winning record. The team beat the No. 12-ranked rival California Baptist Lancers in the season’s high point before going on to win seven of the last nine games. This trajectory ultimately led to success this season.
Still, there was work to be done.
“[Troy] didn’t have the legs to finish games well last year,” Leslie said. “He’d get a little sloppy on defense and his shot wasn’t the same towards the end of games, and [at] crunch time, you need to be able to deliver.”
Five of the Cougars’ 10 losses last season were determined by ten points or less – games that a better team down the stretch could turn from losses to wins.
According to Leslie, Leaf lost 20 pounds between last season and the current campaign. He did what was necessary to take his game to the next level, especially for crunch time — the numbers speak for themselves.
Against top-10 West Region teams, Leaf’s rate of scoring in the final five minutes of games results in a ridiculous average of 54.5 points when stretched over 40 minutes.
In the last 10 minutes of games decided by 10 points or less, Leaf is shooting 95 percent from the charity stripe and 50 percent from behind the arc. Additionally, in games against the top three teams in the PacWest, Leaf is averaging 29.2 points per game.
“What he’s done at the end of games is a testament to how he changed his body and his work ethic starting at the end of last season. He changed his diets and his work habits. He runs extra during the season, he’s in the gym early getting shots, he’s in the fitness center, he’s running the bleachers,” Leslie said. “No one has worked harder than him, and you’re seeing the fruits of his labor.”
The seniors dedicated themselves to that text message Leaf sent before the season — they just wanted to win. The Cougars became focused and dedicated to getting better on a daily basis.
“They prepare themselves every day for practice and everyday for a game. They’ve done that better than any team I’ve ever coached,” Leslie said. “They’re ready to go physically, mentally, emotionally.”
According to Leslie, Leaf became “the person when the going gets rough all eyes turn to.” He became the leader of the team, going hand-in-hand with his exceptional play. Most importantly, he did it through maturity and example.
Photo: Katie Richcreek
“I want them to see someone who is gonna work as hard as I can, whether the game is not going my way that particular night or is going my way,” Leaf said. “I want these guys to see it doesn’t change the way I compete. It doesn’t change the way I’m gonna go dive after loose balls. It doesn’t change that I’m gonna talk on defense.”
Azusa Pacific lost the first game of its 2014-2015 campaign to a nationally ranked Cal Poly-Pomona team 81-78 in overtime. The Cougars went on to win every remaining game of their non-conference schedule, entering conference play 7-1. The stretch included two convincing wins over the two other regular-season champions in the West Region: Chico State (CCAA) and Western Oregon (GNAC).
“Early in the year, we knew that we could be good. We had a certain fire, a certain focus about us that hadn’t been there in previous years,” said Leaf. “After three or four games we realized, man, this could be really special, and I think that that focus really caught and carried over to the rest of the season.”
The Cougars continued their winning ways in conference play. The team’s winning streak eventually was halted at 14 games in an overtime loss at Dixie State on Jan. 17. Leaf had 39 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
The team split its season series with PacWest contenders California Baptist and BYU-Hawai’i and swept through the rest of the conference to finish 18-3. The record was good enough to tie for first in the PacWest, claiming the program’s first conference title since 2006, and the first for Leslie.
It was the culmination of the recalibration of the program that began as APU transitioned out of the NAIA and into the NCAA. It was also the culmination of three years of work from the seniors that stuck through the transition. It was the culmination of the hours Leaf put in, and the example he set for the rest of the program to follow.
“Our first goal was a PacWest championship, and we said we would go from there,” Stafford said. “And now we’ll have to readjust our goals and visions.”
The senior group has achieved what Leaf set out before them in that text message in August. They “just wanted to win,” and they followed through.
The Cougars will play in the PacWest tournament March 5-7 before heading to the West Regional tournament, which they hope to host.
But no matter the outcome of those, Leaf will be remembered within the program as someone who set the standard for hard work. And he’ll be remembered for way he led the program into relevancy in Division II. There’s no doubting that he’s among the best to ever wear an APU uniform.
“I don’t want my last career game to be anytime soon,” Leaf said.
Still, there’s room for Leaf to grow his legacy even further and to bring the program something it never achieved in the NAIA: a national championship.
“A lot of that legacy is gonna depend on what happens moving forward. He’s already put himself in the conversation by making us relevant in our first year,” Leslie said. “Every feather that we add to our cap this year is further strengthening his legacy on the program.”
Beyond the record book and trophy case, Leaf’s greatest contribution to the program is his example.
“What I’m excited about is we’re gonna be able to point to a guy with subsequent players and teams and tell them about about this guy Troy who played here,” Leslie said. “It’s gonna be about the work ethic and how he changed his body and changed his game to be successful.”