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Jeff, a Creighton Prep grad played his semi-pro ball for the Beatrice Bruins, lived in Coach Steinkamp’s basement, and later, briefly in the Omaha Over 30 League. He came to be known as one of the greatest players in University of Nebraska history with an amazing list of accomplishments. He finished his career second in All-Time hits, 305, runs scored, 210, and triples,20. Jeff cranked 27 homers, stole 63/69 bases and had a .346 career average. He was the team Captain, a First Team All-American, Multi All-Conference, Multi-All Regional, and a Multi-All Tournament selection. He had prominent roles in the Huskers’ first trips to the CWS in 2001 and 2002 including a key extra inning hit to put the game away against Rice in 2001. On top of all these achievements, he received almost every Academic Award available to a collegiate athlete, including the Verizon-CoSIDA All-American of the Year all sports in 2002- 2003. Moreover, he was the Big 12’s Male Sportsman of the Year in 2003. After his junior year he was drafted in the 7th round by the Angels, but loyalty to the Huskers won out and he turned down a 6-figure signing bonus knowing full well it would deleverage his bargaining power after his senior year. It did just that, but he’s not in a food line. His intelligence, personality, people skills and multi-talented communication skills more than overcompensated for that situation. “Welcome to The Hall, Jeff Leise”. Was there ever a doubt? |
