University of Portland Men's Basketball

Shantay Legans was hired as the University of Portland men’s basketball head coach in March of 2021 after he led Eastern Washington to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Legans carried that winning pedigree to The Bluff where he guided the Pilots to 19 wins and the program’s first postseason victory at the NCAA level in 2022. Legans matched the fourth-most wins in a season since Portland joined the Division I ranks in 1958. Other highlights from his inaugural season at Portland included a road win against NCAA Tournament participant San Francisco, a 7-7 West Coast Conference record, and a six-game win streak late in the season. Legans was also able to bring back the top seven scorers and all major contributors to the 2022-23 roster, in addition to a talented class of transfers and incoming freshmen. Success at Eastern Washington Legans helped lead the Eagles to five of the program’s seven all-time postseason appearances during his 12 years on staff. In his four years as head coach in Cheney, he compiled the best overall (.605) and conference (.726) winning percentages in school history. As head coach, he also guided the Eagles to an NCAA Tournament appearance, Big Sky Coach of the Year honor and two conference championships. Legans also served on the NCAA Rules Committee and CollegeInsider.com's Eracism Committee for promoting equality and inclusion in collegiate athletics. At Eastern Washington, Legans was a very impressive 75-49 (.605) overall and 53-20 in the Big Sky Conference (.726). Legans' .726 conference winning percentage is the best in the Big Sky in the last 30 years and second best all-time among coaches with at least four years in the league. Including Big Sky Conference Tournament games (7-2), Legans is 60-22 versus Big Sky Conference competition for a .732 winning percentage. The Eagles won 12 or more conference games and finished in third place or higher in each of his four seasons. His four-year total of 53 wins is the best all-time at EWU in 34 seasons in the league, as Eastern has won at least 10 league games for the eighth-straight season. That only happened six times before in EWU's first 26 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I. In his final season at Eastern Washington, Legans piloted the Eagles to their third NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. The Eagles reached the NCAAs after reeling off three convincing victories in the Big Sky Tournament by an average of almost 15 points per game. At the NCAA Tournament, the Eagles led third seeded Kansas by double digits in the second half before falling 93-84. The Eagles, who won 13 of their last 15 games, finished their magical season with a 16-8 record, including a 12-3 mark and second place finish in the Big Sky. Four of the Eagles eight losses came against Power 5 opposition, including one possession defeats at Arizona and Washington State. The Eagles dominated Big Sky postseason honors with Tanner Groves being named Player of the Year, Kim Aiken Jr. Defensive Player of the Year and Tyler Robertson Big Sky Reserve of the Year. He was one of 25 finalists for the 2021 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award which goes to a coach who not only achieves success on the court but who displays moral integrity off the floor. Legans was also among the 25 finalists for the Ben Jobe Award presented to the top NCAA Division I minority coach. Legans was ranked 11th on ESPN's "40 Under 40" list of the top 40 college basketball coaches under the age of 40 in 2020. In addition to the Eagles' success on the floor, the men's basketball program achieved a team GPA of 3.40 or above in each of his four seasons in Cheney. After being promoted to the head coaching role at Eastern Washington on March 29, 2017, Legans pulled off the impressive feat of winning 20 games in his first season as a Division I head coach. The Eagles went 20-15, including a 13-5 record in the Big Sky, defeated Stanford on the road, and qualified for the CBI. In his second season, the Eagles rebounded from injuries and a tough early schedule (games at Syracuse, Oregon, Washington and Stanford) to win eight of its last 11 games and finish the season with 16 victories. The season culminated with a run all the way to the Big Sky Conference Tournament championship game. Legans was named 2019-20 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year after winning the regular season championship and putting the Eagles in position for an NCAA Tournament bid before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season. The Eagles finished the season 23-8 overall and 16-4 in the Big Sky, marking the school's highest ever Big Sky Conference win total and second highest overall win total. The team also finished sixth in the nation in scoring offense (80.9 per game) and fourth in assists (17.5). Prior to his promotion to head coach, Legans spent eight years on the Eastern Washington bench and helped the team achieve a 66-37 record in the final three seasons. As the lead recruiter, Legans helped led the Eagles to a 26-9 record, Big Sky Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2014-15. In 2015-16, the Eagles went 22-12 and advanced to the CBI Quarterfinals with a victory over Pepperdine. Eastern Washington made it three straight postseason appearances in 2016-17 with a 22-12 record and repeat trip to the CBI. Playing Career Raised in Goleta, Calif., Legans was a star prep player at Dos Pueblos High School and then a three-year starting point guard at the University of California from 1999-02. He led the Golden Bears to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and 61 wins before transferring to Fresno State for his final year of eligibility. He earned Western Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year honors for the Bulldogs in 2004. Legans had a professional playing career in the Netherlands and with the Santa Barbara Breakers of the International Basketball League before transitioning to start his coaching career. Legans served as a student assistant during the 2004-05 season at Fresno State and assistant coach at Laguna Blanca High School before joining Eastern Washington's staff in 2009. Education and Family Legans is a 2004 graduate of Fresno State and is married to former Eastern Washington women's basketball player, Tatjana Sparavalo. The couple have two children: daughter Zola Lee (5) and son Maksim (Mak) Lee (4).  

University of Portland has hired Arturo Ormond as an assistant coach, Pilots head coach Shantay Legans announced. Ormond brings a wealth of coaching experience at all levels of basketball, including serving the last two seasons as the associate head coach at Eastern Washington. Ormond has coached at six different Division I universities, was a highly successful high school head coach, and also has extensive experience coaching Grassroots AAU Basketball. Ormond was an assistant coach at Fresno State from 2002-05, where he coached Legans during his redshirt season and final year of collegiate eligibility. “We are very fortunate to have Arturo join our staff,” Legans said. “He is great at developing players and is well-connected in the recruiting world. Arturo brings a different level of experience to our staff and will be a great asset for our program.” Ormond helped Eastern Washington achieve great success including a trip to the 2023 National Invitational Tournament (NIT). The Eagles went a perfect 16-0 in Big Sky Conference play last year and tied a program record with an 18-game winning streak. The team finished with a 23-11 overall record. Ormond and the Eagles posted an 18-16 record during the 2021-22 campaign. Ormond was an assistant coach at UTEP the previous two seasons where he helped the Miners post their first winning record in four years during the 2019-20 season. Bryson Williams and Souley Boum earned All-Conference USA honors under his tutelage in 2021. Ormond’s other collegiate coaching experiences included stints at Centenary College (1999-02), University of Maryland Eastern Shore (1997-99), University of Texas-Pan American (1995-97) and Tuskegee University (1994-95). During his three seasons at Fresno State, the Bulldogs won 50 games overall and won 20 games during the 2002-03 campaign. Ormond also served five years as varsity boys basketball head coach at Edison High School in Fresno, Calif. (2006-10) where he racked up a 119-34 record, while winning three Valley Championships (2007, 2008, 2009). He was named the 2009 Fresno Bee Coach of the Year for Boys Basketball. Ormond began his coaching career as an assistant boys basketball coach at Farragut High School (1993-94) in Chicago, Ill. and he later served as a coach and player development coordinator for Team Superstar in California. Ormond was a two-year letterwinner at Texas-Pan American (now UTRGV) from 1989-91. He graduated from Texas-Pan American with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 1991 and a master’s degree in education in 1993.