DePaul Men's Basketball Coach Dave Leitao Emphasizes Leadership In Moving Forward On Issues Of Racial Injustice
CHICAGO (CBS) -- DePaul University men's basketball coach Dave Leitao is trying to help his players through a difficult time.
The Blue Demons have Zoom meetings where the dialogue has shifted from a global pandemic to racial injustice.
"They're angry – very angry, very confused. But I also think that they want to learn. I think they're smart guys, so they want be able to channel it into something, and they want answers. And unfortunately, there's not as many answers as we can give them particularly right now, because the country and the world is at a standstill," Leitao told CBS 2's Luke Stuckmeyer.
Leitao emphasized the importance of leadership.
"It's critical, whether it's my role as a coach, slash teacher, slash educator, you know, all the things that come with this chair – or as you mentioned, the leader of a team or the leader of a household – anything, your voice and your experiences really matter, and you have to be able to express them in a way that draws people to your message, and then they can independently move that message forward," he said. "As we move forward, we've got to do it with great humility. We've got to do it with great respect, and also with great responsibility."
He said those three tools can help the whole country move forward.