Men’s Tennis | October 11, 2023
LOS ANGELES – Dick Leach, who led USC men’s tennis teams to four NCAA championships as head coach and who was an All-American player as a Trojan, passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 10.
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame coach left an unmatched legacy, as he earned a program-record 540 wins in his 23-year USC coaching career from 1980-2002. He won four NCAA championships, including three in four years (1991, 1993 and 1994). He ended his USC coaching career with a final national title in 2002. Along the way, his Trojans collected three NCAA doubles titles and two NCAA singles crowns.
Leach was a three-time ITA Coach of the Year (1984, 1991 and 2002) and he helped his Trojans earn a combined 68 All-American honors. His USC teams also won seven conference championships, with Leach earning five Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. He was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
Leach was a family man, and the lifeblood of that family was the game of tennis. His two sons, Rick and Jon, became USC legends in their own rights as players. A four-time All-American, Rick won two NCAA doubles titles (1986 and 1987) while playing for his father. Jon was a two-time All-American as a fixture on his father’s first three national championship teams.
As an athlete, Leach was a three-year letterwinner at USC (1959-61) under former head coach George Toley and achieved All-American third team honors in 1961. During his playing career, he received 26 U.S. national rankings in singles and doubles.
Outside of USC, Leach served as head coach at Arcadia High School from 1965-69. He also spent three years coaching the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team (1966-68) and seven years as the pro at the San Marino Tennis Club (1969-76). He also had been the general partner and owner of four tennis clubs: Big Bear Tennis Ranch, Westlake Tennis and Swim Club, Ojai Valley Racquet Club and the Racquet Club of Irvine.
Leach resided in Laguna Beach, Calif., with his family after his retirement. He is survived by his wife, Sandy, his sons, Rick and Jon, and his daughter, Mindy. Information on memorial services is still to come.
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