[5] The Blue Demons qualified for the postseason in each of Leitao's three years at DePaul, appearing in the NIT in 2003 and 2005 and the NCAA tournament in 2004.
Getting contributions from little known front court players including Jason Cain and Tunji Soroye, Virginia was able to upset #23 North Carolina on Jan. 19.
Labeled as the "Last Ball At U-Hall", Virginia was ready to move into the new state of the art John Paul Jones Arena right next door.
Leitao started his second year with the opening of the new John Paul Jones arena and an upset win over Arizona.
Led by Sean Singletary and J. R. Reynolds, Virginia finished with an 11–5 conference record and a share of the ACC regular season title with North Carolina.
In the second round, Sean Singletary's last-second shot bounced off the rim and the Cavaliers were defeated by the University of Tennessee in a 77–74 loss.
Without these two players, the Cavaliers proceeded to lose seven games by two points or less or in overtime; the team ended the season with a record of 17–16 (5–11 ACC).
However, as injured players began to return to the team, the Cavaliers won six of their final ten games, and advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.
Leitao's frustrated team was led by Sylven Landesberg who averaged 16.8 points per game and captured the ACC Rookie of the Year award.
Other notables: Assane Sene missed early and late parts of the season with ankle injuries while showing some promise as a young defensive stopper.
Sammy Zeglinski, Leitao's first recruit, gained valuable experience at point guard after being red-shirted in 2007–08 with an ankle injury.
[10] On July 21, 2011, Leitao was named head coach of the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League.
[11] Leitao left the Red Claws after one season to become an assistant coach at the University of Missouri under Frank Haith.
[14] DePaul, which conducted the process of finding a new head coach with Parker Executive Search,[15] was criticized by fans because of the perception of the university being stuck in the past and not moving into the future.
He made his season debut at Iowa following assistant Tim Anderson coaching the Blue Demons to three straight wins.
He won nine of his first ten games of the season including an upset at Iowa and an exciting overtime win against Texas Tech at home.