America East Basketball: 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
6. Tanner Leissner
A 6’6 wing from Converse, Texas, Leissner made a name for himself way up in New Hampshire and became one of the best players in recent memory for these Wildcats. A talented power forward, Leissner was a big factor at New Hampshire right from the jump, starting nearly all of the 122 games he played across four seasons between 2014 and 2018.
Averaging 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds a game was a fantastic start and it got Leissner the honors of Rookie of the Year, but he was just getting started. His scoring figures and production would rise with each passing season, culminating in 18.7 points per game during his senior season. He established a career-high with a 36-point showing at UMBC as a junior and collected a few dozen double-doubles throughout his career.
Leissner is another player who earned four straight All-America East honors, finding himself named First Team in each of his last three seasons. He was Top 5 in the conference in rebounding all four years and left New Hampshire as the program’s all-time leading scorer. He contributed to some winning teams early in his career, though it’s a shame that the Wildcats didn’t have more postseason success. He played a lot of minutes and scored a lot of points for these Wildcats.