LeBlanc takes job at Millsaps College

Larose native Justin LeBlanc has only been a college head coach for one season.

But he’s already been afforded with an opportunity many coaches would work their entire career to have – the chance to lead one’s own alma mater into the future.

LeBlanc announced earlier this month that he was leaving his post as the head women’s basketball coach at Centenary College so that he could take the same gig at Millsaps – the school LeBlanc attended as a four-year letter winner in the early 2000s.

As a head coach, LeBlanc led Centenary to a 9-17 season in 2015-16, which is impressive considering the program hadn’t won a single game the year before his arrival.

LeBlanc said leaving Shreveport was hard, but added that being back at Millsaps feels right.

Prior to coaching at Centenary, LeBlanc was an assistant at Millsaps for four seasons, working with the school’s men’s basketball program.

“I am very excited about being back at Millsaps,” LeBlanc said. “As a Millsaps alum, I could not have asked for a better path in my coaching career than to be back at a school that I truly love. It was a very hard and stressful decision for my family and I, but as the opportunity became more and more real, coming back to Millsaps was something we just couldn’t pass up.”

For LeBlanc, the path to Millsaps marks another step up the ladder in the local’s quickly rising coaching career.

LeBlanc was a four-year letter winner for Millsaps from 2002-06, helping lead the team to four-straight conference tournament appearance in his career.

But in South Louisiana – and especially in south Lafourche Parish – the LeBlanc men tend to find their way into coaching, which led Justin to his decision to explore the profession upon graduation.

Justin LeBlanc is the grandson of the late Rene LeBlanc, the legendary area coach who worked from 1956-1977 and won nearly 500 games as the head coach at Larose-Cut Off High school and then South Lafourche High School.

Rene LeBlanc’s impacts were so big that LCO named its gym after the longtime coach in recent years.

Justin said as a child, he always envisioned being at the head of a program.

“I didn’t have much choice,” LeBlanc said with a laugh when asked the age he decided to consider coaching. “In my family, that’s just sort-of what we do.”

LeBlanc’s first job came at Millsaps where he helped the Majors’ men’s basketball program go 67-43 overall in four seasons, while advancing to the 2008 NCAA Division III National Tournament.

While there, LeBlanc helped develop eight all-conference players and an All-American.

From Millsaps, LeBlanc headed to Centenary where he first started with the school’s men’s basketball team and then transitioned to the women’s game.

His first job was as an assistant for the men’s team, serving as the school’s lead recruiter for five seasons.

During that time, LeBlanc helped mold three-straight Conference Newcomers of the Year, four All-Americans and 12 all-conference players.

After that, LeBlanc took a new challenge, accepting a position as Centenary’s head women’s basketball coach – a role he filled in 2015-16.

With the Lady Gents, LeBlanc helped lay the foundation the struggling program hopes to build upon the future.

Prior to LeBlanc’s season as head coach, Centenary had won just six games in the previous three seasons combined.

In 2015-16, the team won nine games, including three in conference play alone.

LeBlanc said it wasn’t easy to walk away from Centenary, but that the opportunity to be back in Jackson, Mississippi was too appealing.

“My wife and I met and were married here in Jackson,” LeBlanc said. “My son is named Jackson, so you can tell that Millsaps and this city have played a huge role in our lives.”

Millsap Athletic Director Donnie Brooks said LeBlanc is a great fit for the team.

“His reputation for the work that he did here as an assistant and at Centenary preceeds him,” Brooks said. “We are excited about his return and we are looking forward to a great season.”

So now, it’s time to build.

LeBlanc said he’s spent the past several weeks getting to know his roster as the 2016-17 season draws near.

The team tied for the regular season conference crown last season and returns many players off that group.

One player with local ties is South Lafourche graduate Caroline Guilbeau, who signed with the program last season.

LeBlanc said he recruited Guilbeau at Centenary and is happy to have her at Millsap.

“I think she will bring a needed outside shooting presence early on,” LeBlanc said. “I am looking forward to watching her grow into a leadership role as her career progresses.”

Leadership is something LeBlanc said he wants to see grow during his time with the team.

The team has been very successful in the past several seasons, winning three regular season conference titles in the past six years. But the team never won the conference tournament in that span – something LeBlanc said he wants to attain.

“I feel that the expectations are high, but I am ready for the challenges ahead to meet them,” he said. •

Justin LeBlanc

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