Bahamian legendary athlete, now coach, ‘Superman’ Leevan Sands is headed to the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference).
In two short years, he has made the jump from a mid-major program to the prestigious ACC – a power five conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I.
Sands was one of two coaches hired by Florida State University (FSU) Athletics, and another was promoted to the coaching ranks, with immediate effect as the Seminoles transition into the 2021-2022 season.
Sands, a four-time Olympian and former Olympic bronze medalist, who still hasn’t officially retired as an athlete as yet, comes over to FSU from the University of Northern Colorado where he served as assistant coach with responsibility for the jumps for two years. He will take on the same duties for the FSU Seminoles – a major NCAA Division I program – with additional responsibilities for scouting and recruiting.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be a part of such an amazing track and field program,” said Sands yesterday. “It feels great – it truly does. This is a good opportunity and I’m looking to take advantage of it. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be this soon, but I am accepting it with open arms. I’m looking forward to the challenge. FSU has a great history and great athletes and I’m grateful to be a part of it. Thank you to Coach Braman and staff for this outstanding opportunity.”
Sands, now 40, helped make history for Northern Colorado, training two jumpers who qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round – Tyler Thimsen and Welrè Olivier. They finished 29th and 30th respectively, failing to advance to the final, but it was the first time that two Northern Colorado jumpers advanced to the NCAA Division I west preliminaries and Sands was the man who guided them there.
“It’s an eye-opener to see the progress that some of the guys made, particularly Welrè, coming in as a freshman and winning conference. They were ranked number one and number two in the conference,” said Sands. “I’m used to developing kids but at FSU you have some guys who are really jumping, so it’s going to be a challenge. There is one guy who jumped over 8.30 meters (m) – 27’ 2-3/4” – in the men’s long jump. That’s really getting out there. When you have guys who are already jumping that far, all you have to do is to help them improve.”
One of the female jumpers, Alonie Sutton, received coaching from Sands’ while she was in high school at Smiths Station High School in Smiths Station, Alabama. She is a 6.39m (20’ 11-3/4”) jumper in the long jump and a 13.37m (43’ 10-1/2”) jumper in the triple jump.
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