Leslie Larsen is entering her first season as an assistant at Arkansas State. A native of Benton, Ark., Larsen is returning to Arkansas State after spending the last two years at Georgia Southern, where she earned her Master of Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sport Psychology. While at Georgia Southern, Larsen also served as the head coach for the Bulloch Academy junior varsity team.
Larsen spent two years with the Arkansas State women's basketball program, serving as a student assistant from 2006-2008 under Boyer. While a student assistant at ASU, the Red Wolves finished 21-13 and advanced to the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament in 2006-07 and posted a 20-12 mark in 2007-08. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Arkansas State in 2008, graduating Summa Cum Laude in both fields. While serving as a student assistant at ASU, Larsen assisted with summer camps, team travel, film exchange and film editing and other administrative duties.
Larsen's duties with the A-State staff include coordinating team travel, equipment and facility arrangements. She oversees the team's managers and the locker room, serves as the liason to the Academic Services and assists with opponent scouting and individual camps. She is the Elementary Summer Camp director and recruits Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and the team's walk-ons.
"I am excited to have Leslie back involved with our program," said Boyer. "She was a vital part of two successful seasons during her time here at Arkansas State. When she finished her degree here I knew that someday I would try to hire her back as an assistant - that is how much I think of her. Leslie is a very good communicator, she is tremendously organized, she has good work ethic and she sees and understands the game well. Leslie has very strong feelings for Arkansas State University and I know she is thrilled to come back and work for her alma mater."
Larsen also served as a Sport Psychology Consultant at the Arkansas Sports Performance Center where she developed Sport Psychology workshops for teams and trained athletes on speed, strength, plyometric and running workouts.
After finishing her prep playing career at Benton, Larsen played two seasons at Lyon College before transferring to Arkansas State.