Inductees

He grew up in the 1960s and 1970s in what’s now South Central Los Angeles where, in his words, “Many black males would die by the age of 25 because of gangs, the Crips and the Bloods, and yeah I lost some friends.”

Leon Neal, the longtime coach of the Evangel University women’s basketball program, has an idea about why he survived it all.

“I really believe God had a plan for me,” Neal said.

That plan apparently called for putting young women in a position to succeed in basketball but especially in life, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Neal with the Class of 2017.

In essence, Neal recruited talent to boost the Lady Crusaders’ tradition, and they not only delivered on the court but also afterward in numerous professions. That helps explains his longevity at a place he once roamed as a player.

In 2017, Neal completed his 34^th season on campus, including his 23^rd consecutive as head coach. Overall, he owns a 422-303 record (.583), which includes nine NAIA Tournament appearances, including two national semifinal berths, and eight Heart of America Athletic Conference championships. Neal also was a conference Coach of the Year six times.

It’s an impressive set of credentials considering recruiting to Evangel is no small task. The private Springfield university is Christian based with strict rules and an emphasis on academics. Plus, Evangel plays at a level (in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) considered the ground-floor of basketball’s totem pole, scholarship-wise for four-year colleges.

Asked why he has stayed so long, Neal had a simple answer.

“My faith,” Neal said. “It keeps you structured. I think you always have that mindset – are you in it for yourself or are you in it for the kids? For me, I’m in this because God wanted me to be here.”

Neal certainly has climbed a long way from the Watts neighborhood of L.A. His playing career initially led to a juco in San Luis Obispo before he traveled all the way to Evangel — with then-coach Andre Curtis assuring his mom that Neal would graduate.

By the time Neal left campus, he had become Evangel’s first NAIA All-American in any sport and, in 1977-1978, scored 782 points, which remains No. 2 in single-season school history.

One might have assumed Neal would never return to after his senior year. After all, he played seven years professionally, first for Athletes in Action in Canada (he turned down offers to compete in NBA training camps) and then in Portugal.

There, he averaged 24 points a game and led Porto to two national titles, plus played in the European Cup Championships twice – earning MVP honors for a 44-point game. He also led Sangalahos to two national runner-up finishes and coached the Sangalahos women’s team for two seasons, reaching two national finals and earning a 77-6 record.

Fortunately for Evangel, Neal returned to campus in 1986. He was an assistant for men’s basketball coach Steve Jenkins (MSHOF 2016) for the next 11 years and an assistant for women’s basketball coach Lynn Bowen from 1987-1994.

“I got to learn from two great men, especially coming from my background. I never had that Christian leadership,” Neal said. “I learned a lot about life and how to lead young men and women.”

In 1994, Neal was promoted head coach of the women’s program in a role that had come to pique his interest.

“I had the time in my years as an assistant to see they worked just as hard as the guys and they were able to take criticism and still work at it,” Neal said.

In Neal, Evangel found a coach who wasn’t just happy to be a coach but who loved coaching at Evangel.

His wife, Dawn, has been his assistant now for 18 years. They also coached their daughter, NaTasha Neal Moore, who turned down NCAA Division I scholarship offers and from 2001 to 2005 led the Lady Crusaders to four league titles, four NAIA Tournaments (three quarterfinals) and a 2005 national semifinal. She also worn No. 44, just like dad, and the university retired the jersey in 2010.

“I never envisioned it,” Neal said of his longevity at Evangel. “From where I started, God prepared me for this time. I never dreamed when I started here as an assistant that anything was going to come of it. It just took off from there. But I was prepared all this time, for this time.”