By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After a brief break, Bahamian triple jump superstar Leevan “Superman” Sands will return to the collegiate coaching ranks, teaming up with fellow Bahamian head coach Rolando “Lonnie” Greene as the University of Kentucky Wildcats’ new track and field assistant coach.

Sands, the Bahamian national triple jump record holder and the triple Olympic Games, World Championships and Commonwealth Games’ bronze medallist, will be primarily responsible for the Wildcats’ horizontal jumps group.

In welcoming his fellow Bahamian on board in Lexington, Kentucky, Greene said if Sands wasn’t good, he would not have bothered to bring him in.

“If he wasn’t that good, I wouldn’t bring in a coach like that into Kentucky,” Greene said. 

“Leevan is very good at what he does. I watched him when he was an assistant at Colorado State and while at Florida State. As one of the persons who got him the job, I felt he needed to hone his skills, sharpen his knife before coming to the Power Five as we call the SEC.”

With the experience under his belt, Greene said in restructuring his staff, he wanted to get more production out of the horizontal jumps and Sands fit the bill perfectly.

“In considering that, I knew he was a youth in high school, junior college, college and at the professional level,” Greene said. “I watched him as he conducted himself in a professional manner.

“So when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped all over it. Me and my staff were eager to get him on board. He’s a welcomed addition here at Kentucky.”

As Sands is welcomed in, taking on his responsibility in August, Kentucky will be saying goodbye to “Golden Girl” Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, an assistant coach who will be departing and returning home to be closer to her family. 

While Greene opted not to get into Ferguson-McKenzie’s departure, he would only indicate that she will be missed, but he’s delighted to have Sands on board. 

Prior to his move to Lexington, the 43-year-old Sands spent two seasons as an assistant jumps coach at Florida State and two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado. During the 2022 outdoor season, Sands led Florida State’s Jeremiah Davis and Isaac Grimes to a second and third-place finish, respectively, at the NCAA Championships in the long jump final. That same year in Tallahassee, Florida, Sands helped the Seminoles’ Davis, who would go on to finish seventh, and Jacore Irving to qualify for the NCAA men’s triple jump final.

This year, Sands has helped Davis to propel to a personal best of 26-feet, 1/4-inches or 8.11 metres and Bahamian Kaiwan Culmer, his new addition in his pro training camp from last year, has cleared a lifetime best of 55-9 1/4 (17.00m).

Sands, 43, said he’s eager to soar in his new assignment. 

“I am excited and overjoyed. I get a =n opportunity to coach in the SEC (Southeastern Conference),” he said. “The SEC is the highest level in the NCAA, Everybody talks about competing in the SEC.

“I’m just happy to get this opportunity to work with coach Greejne, who is also a Bahamian. I’m looking forward to learning more under his tutelage at Kentucky, which is a great program. I hope to bring my expertise to help elevate this program. 

I’m hungry. I’m just ready to get to work. I just want to make some people great. Tht is my goal. Once I get in there and do my job, I hope to take some athletes to the NCAA and to win it.”

Having met Greene while he was competing at Auburn under coach Henry Rolle, Sands said Greene’s been a big brother and a mentor to him and he was always an inspiration to him.

“I’m just so happy that he’s seen what I’ve done and he knows the value that I bring to the program,” Sands said. “I know I’m in good hands under coach Greene. He’s a good person =, straight forward person and he really means well. So I’m excited.”

Before turning to coaching, Sands boasted a 13-year professional career that was highlighted by winning the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in the triple jump, while representing his home country of the Bahamas. 

Sands is a four-time Olympian and 12-time Bahamas national champion and currently holds the national record in the men’s outdoor triple jump (17.59m) and the indoor long jump (8.10m).

In 2015, Sands won the silver medal at the Pan American Games and earned a bronze medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the 2003 World Championships, and the 2015 North American, Central American, and Caribbean Championships.

Sands later became a spokesperson for the Bahamas in 2008, helping mentor the country’s young athletes, including 2016 NCAA triple jump champion, Latario Collie, of the University of Texas.

Sands graduated from Auburn University in 2005 with a degree in education. During his collegiate career, he was a two-time NCAA Champion, first in 2003 in the men’s long jump and again in 2004 in the men’s triple jump.

Following the 2004 season, Sands was named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Prior to his collegiate career, Sands was the Gatorade Athlete of the Year after winning gold in the long, triple, and high jump at the High School National Championships in 1999. 

He was also the indoor high school champion in both the long jump and the triple jump, setting the triple jump record of 52’8”.

Greene said Sands’ record as an athlete turned coach speaks volumes, especially in his quest to not only win the SEC title, but the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s indoor and outdoor titles.

“I want to win, A lot of coaches get in the chair and they say ‘’oh, I’ve arrived. I want to win,” he said. “I’ve had the fortune of doing that twice here and I want to continue that trend.

“Leevan brings that type of pedigree to develop jumpers, so I’m going to brag on him for a bit. He’s developed the leading long jumper in the United States right now. He was with Leevan at Florida State where he was the leading man.”

While Florida State opted not to renew Sands’ contract, Greene said they were more than ecstatic to get him into Kentucky,

“I told him many years ago, a day is going to come when we will get to work together,” Greene said. “He was like ‘yeah, call me.’ That day has come. When he came here with his wife, his name was already on the door.”

Greene said Sands is now back in the game.

While the goal is to win an NCAA title, Sands will do everything in his power to assist Greene in achieving that accomplishment.

For those athletes who he’s been training with in Florida, Sands said some of them will be joining him in Kentucky, including Culmer, as they continue their trek towards the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California.

Before that, Sands said will watch the developments of avis at the US trials and Culmer at the 

Bahamas Senior Nationals as they both continue their path, hopefully with their selection to the respective country’s teams at the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan from September 13-21.

Sands, the son of Leevan Sands Sr (deceased) and now retired Police Superintendent Elaine Sands, will be relocating his family, including his wife, Danielle, and their children Leevan III, Lion and Legend Sands, but he said it’s worth it all because he’s back doing what he loves - coaching at the collegiate level again.