Note: Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at A.D. Porter & Sons, 1300 W. Chestnut St. in Louisville, with burial in Cave Hill Cemetery. Visitation is 5-8 p.m. Sunday.
MOREHEAD, Ky.— Morehead State Hall of Fame member and former basketball standout Leonard Coulter passed away Wednesday.
“We are very saddened to hear of Leonard’s passing,” Morehead State men’s basketball coach
Donnie Tyndall said. “Leonard will always be remembered as one of the best, if not the best player to ever wear an Eagle Uniform. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
A three-time All-Conference selection by the Ohio Valley Conference, Coulter earned All-American honors in 1972 and was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the eighth round in 1974. He ranks seventh all-time at Morehead State in scoring and third in rebounding. He also holds the school record for most consecutive field goals with 13 and was inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 1985.
“Leonard was one of our all-time best players, but just as importantly he was still a very active member of the MSU family,” said Morehead State Director of Athletics
Brian Hutchinson. “His passing is a sad occasion for all Eagle fans and he will be missed.”
A four-year starter and two-time All-State honoree in basketball at Danville High School, he was a member of 1968 12th Region championship team and remains the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Coulter was also a talented football player, earning First Team All-State honors in 1969, his senior year. He was named to the Sunkist All-America team in football and basketball as a senior at Danville and the school retired his basketball jersey in 2005.
Coulter is survived by his daughter, Tiffany McDermott; his son, Leonard Coulter Jr.; his former wife, Zerelda Jean Coulter; his aunt, Agnes Lancaster and four grandchildren
The following is a profile of Coulter that appear in The Trailblazer:
Leonard Coulter came to Morehead State University from Danville, Kentucky where he had been high school all-state and All-American basketball player. He came to Morehead with a super bunch of blue chip recruits. Bill Harrell, then coach, recruited Bill Dotson, Howard Wallen, Eugene Lyons, Ken Nolls, and others to bring the OVC crown to Morehead. This crew went undefeated as freshman and everyone in Morehead was hoping for three years of championship basketball.
In the next three years Morehead amassed thirty-eight OVC wins and fourteen OVC losses. Coulter and his wrecking crew were co-champions in the OVC in two of his three varsity years.
In his sophomore year Leonard led the OVC in rebounding and finished second in the conference in scoring. He averaged 14.5 rebounds and 23.4 points per game. He also became Morehead’s second sophomore to win All-American honors.
Leonard Coulter was a unique All-American because of his ethnic background. Leonard Coulter was Morehead’s first black All-American. Less than a decade before Stewart Johnson (1963-1964) had been the OVC first black player ever.
Leonard won many honors while at Morehead State University. First, he made all-OVC three years in a row. Second, he finished as Morehead’s fourth leading all-time scorer behind Swartz, Allen and Hamilton. He was Morehead’s all-time leading scorer as a sophomore. To top this off, he was the best shooter for accuracy in Morehead’s history. His career field goal accuracy was 52.6%.
