Billy LeClair
Billy LeClair
Title: Head Coach
Phone: 224.425.2693
Email: wleclair@centenary.edu

Billy LeClair enters his fourth season as head coach of the Gents after he was promoted to Associate Head Coach in June, 2021.

The Gents finished 2-10 overall and 0-2 in Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference (HCLC) play in 2023. The Maroon and White scored 95 goals, an average of 7.9 per game, and tallied 41 assists. Centenary had five players score 10+ goals each and placed one player on the all-conference team as junior D Matthew Lulich (New Orleans, La.) was named to the second team. Lulich, a standout defender, earned Second-Team honors for the second-straight season. Lulich played in all 12 of the Gents' games, starting 10, and finished with 29 ground balls (fourth on team) and a team-high 21 caused turnovers.

The Gents set a program record for goals in a game in their dominant 23-2 victory over Spalding University at Mayo Field on March 17, 2023. Centenary topped 20 goals for the first time in program history as its previous single-game record was 18 in a win at Dallas on April 24, 2021.

LeClair, a native of Gurnee, Ill., was an integral part of Centenary's success in 2022, as the Gents finished their regular season with a flourish on April 24 as the Maroon and White scored a program record number of goals in an impressive 18-8 rout of Dallas on the road.

Centenary previously defeated the Crusaders, 7-4, at home on March 7 as the Gents won for the first time since reestablishing as a varsity program. The Gents also made their postseason debut as a program on April 30 as they faced Southwestern in the semifinals of the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo.

LeClair played lacrosse at Defiance College for three years and served as team captain his sophomore and junior year. His previous coaching experience includes serving as head coach for the Lake County Select 14U summer team in 2014, 2015, and 2018. LeClair also coached at Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Ill. for a year as the Head JV Coach and Assistant Varsity Coach, and then served as Head JV and Assistant Varsity Coach for Warren Township High School in Gurnee, Ill. for a year.

During his time at Warren Township, the team was runner-up for the 2019 State Championship, a first in school history. LeClair was also the head of lacrosse at Camp Starlight located in Starlight, Penn., in the summer of 2019. 

LeClair is married to the former Ellen Reid, a former Centenary Athletics employee who started the cheer and dance program in 2019.