Sam Leal

Leal comes to Wartburg from the University of Maine at Farmington, where he served as the head coach for the past four seasons. Prior to his time at Maine Farmington, he was also an assistant coach at both Bates College and Springfield College.

The Beavers were 53-25 under his direction at the University of Maine at Farmington, which is the best overall record of all 11 Division III schools in Maine. During his tenure at Maine Farmington, Leal led the Beavers to the NAC Tournament every season, including a run to the tournament championship game in 2022-23. Over the four seasons he coached four all-conference players (no All-Conference given in 2020-21), including the 2022-23 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Leal was also named NAC Coach of the Year in the 2022-23 season. Following a 19-win season in 2022-23 that saw eight seniors graduate, Leal led the Beavers to 18 wins the next season.

Leal was a four-year member of the basketball team at the University of Maine at Farmington, where he was captain his junior and senior seasons. He helped lead his team to a regular season NAC title in his junior year and then was apart of a NAC tournament finalist team in his final season. Leal earned both NAC All-Academic honors and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Coaches Honors Court. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in secondary education mathematics from the University of Maine at Farmington and then went on to earn his Master of Science degree from Springfield College in sport and exercise psychology.