Leonard Gainer, known as “Speedy” because of the way he could blaze by defenders on a basketball court, played an entertaining brand of basketball that wowed the crowds in Wilson Gymnasium at Atlantic Christian College (now Barton) from 1975-79. Those Bulldog teams were not that successful, but Gainer was an exciting player who left an indelible impression upon hoop fans in the Wilson community.
The point guard averaged 14.2 points, nearly five assists, shot 50.8 percent from the floor, 68.6 percent from the foul line and amassed 1,543 points, making him one of the highest scoring players in school history. He also led the team in steals and assists his final three seasons. He played for head coach Ben Pomeroy his freshman season and the last three years under Bill Robinette. He was named team MVP and made the All-Carolinas Conference squad in each of his last three seasons.
Gainer, who was born on June 9, 1957, in Panama City, Fla., moved with his parents, Leonard and Robbie Jean Gainer, to Virginia Beach when he was six years old and has lived there for the past 47 years.
He started playing organized basketball when he was 13 on the ninth grade middle school team coached by Willie Levy Braye, and he quickly made a name for himself with a 33-point scoring average while leading his team to city and conference tournament championships. He had several games when he bucketed more than 50 points.
Gainer was coached by Barton Hall of Famer Alton Hill and Norvie Wilson, also an AC grad, at First Colonial High School, where he made city and all-district first teams all three seasons and became just the second player in school history to score more than 1,000 points. First Colonial had a winning record every year.
Gainer lit up the scoreboard many nights, and he remembers scoring 41 points in a game when AC Coach Ben Pomeroy came on one of his recruiting visits.
Gainer said aside from speed, his ability to dribble and shoot with either hand made him tough to defend.
More than decent. He finished his college career at 645-for-1269 (50.8 percent), a high percentage for a point guard. His numbers were higher than most because he would get a lot of layups off nifty moves, or steals. From the foul line, he was 251-366 for 68.6 percent. The Bulldogs never finished higher than fourth in the NAIA Carolinas Conference and were 40-69 during his four seasons. However, they did pull off a stunning upset in the first round of the conference tournament in three of those four years.
His favorite season was his junior year, when he averaged 21 points and four assists per game, and shot 54 percent from the floor. He can still recite most of the members of the team, including Lorenzo Jones, Robert Pegues, Tom Umberger, Larry Heaton, Butch Ligon, Mac Carroll, Bobby Bell, and Raphael Boyd. He swished 25 points on 12-of-18 shooting in an 82-72 first-round conference tournament loss to second-seeded Pembroke State. Another memorable performance came in ACC’s home finale against Catawba. Gainer, who had been out with the flu, returned to sink 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting in a 76-69 victory.
Gainer was named a Small College Honorable Mention All-American his senior season, quite a feat considering his squad was just 9-18 overall and 3-9 in the league. The Bulldogs’ co-captain averaged 17 points per game and came through in the clutch many times. ACC was the sixth seed in the conference tournament that season, but converted 80 percent of its first-half shots against second-seeded Pembroke State (coached by Billy Lee) and wound up winning 82-73 behind 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting by Gainer.
Gainer earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration in 1979 and taught school for a year at First Colonial. He worked as an advertising and marketing representative with The Virginian Pilot and Ledger Star from 1980-88. He began what has been a 23-year career as a State Farm Insurance agent in 1988 and has been a Millionaire Club qualifier with State Farm since 1990.
Gainer married Michelle Bank-Gainer, and they are the proud parents of Leonard III (age 28), Stefan (20), and Monet (19). The Gainers serve as leaders in a ministry they founded called Blessed Acts, which focuses on marriage and family life. Both are church deacons.
Gainer kept his hand in athletics as a successful AAU basketball coach for 15 years in the Virginia Beach area, leading several teams to regional championships. He was commissioner of a Little League basketball league and coached youth football and basketball for a decade.
