Youngstown, Ohio — Jada Leonard, one of last season's top defenders in the Horizon League while playing for Cleveland State, has signed to join Youngstown State's women's basketball team for the 2026-27 season, head coach Melissa Jackson announced Monday.
Leonard is a 5-foot-8 guard from the Bronx, N.Y., who has one season of eligibility remaining. She averaged 12.0 points, 3.0 assists and a Horizon League-leading 2.9 steals per game as a member of the conference's All-Defensive Team in 2025-26.
"We are thrilled to welcome Jada to our Penguin family," Jackson said. "I really enjoyed getting to know her and her family during the recruiting process. Jada is ultra-competitive and an elite, all-league defender. We were looking for a guard with experience, and we could not find a better fit in Jada. She brings toughness and proven Horizon League success to our team. We are excited about her skill set and how that will fit with our current and incoming players."
In her first three collegiate seasons, Leonard has averaged 11.5 points, 2.4 steals and 2.4 assists per game over 92 contests. Her first two active seasons were in 2022-23 and 2023-24 at Saint Peter's, and a redshirt season in 2024-25 at Bryant preceded her 2025-26 campaign at Cleveland State. She has averaged at least 10.4 points and 2.0 steals in all three of her seasons, and she comes to Youngstown State with career totals of 1,062 points, 222 steals, 217 assists and 90 3-pointers.
As a redshirt junior in 2025-26, Leonard led the Horizon League and ranked 21st in the country with 2.9 steals per game as an All-Defensive Team honoree. She also ranked in the top 11 in the conference in free-throw percentage (.817), assists per game (3.0), free throws made (103), assist-to-turnover ratio and points per game (12.0). The Vikings won 26 games, played in the semifinals of the Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship and advanced to the Great 8 round of the Postseason WNIT.
Leonard was the top scorer at Saint Peter's in both of her seasons competing in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, averaging 10.5 points as a freshman and 12.1 points as a sophomore. She posted averages of 11.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 2.0 assists per game while starting 53 of the 58 games she played for the Peacocks. Leonard scored at least 20 points seven times for Saint Peter's, and she reached 20 points three times for the Vikings.
Before her collegiate career, Leonard was a 1,000-point scorer, an all-state selection and a two-time all-league pick at Monsignor Scanlan High School in the Bronx, N.Y.
Leonard is the fourth newcomer slated to join the Penguins for the 2026-27 season. She joins transfer Mia Kalich and incoming freshmen Evelyn McKnight and Kaitlyn Turinsky.
