Eastern Washington University Athletics

Was MVP of the 1947 NAIA Tournament as Eastern reached the quarterfinals for the second-straight year. Eastern appeared in five NAIA Tournaments in the school's history, and Leifer played in four of them. Eastern was 18-7, 27-5, 31-4 and 22-9 in his four seasons in Cheney for a collective record of 98-25 (.797 winning percentage). As a junior and senior he was selected to NAIA All-Tournament teams. Although NAIA All-Americans were not selected until 1951, he was named to the NAIA's 50th anniversary team in 1987. Leifer earned All-State honors at Pine City High School in 1940 and St. John High School in 1941. In 1941 he teamed with his younger brother Bob, who was also an All-State selection, to second place in the state after a slim 30-29 loss to Bremerton in the finals. The 1952 state program described Leifer's effort as "the greatest all-around one-man performance in tourney history." At Eastern, he scored 1,550 career points to rank second in school history. He went on to a highly-successful coaching career at Renton High School, becoming the first man to coach four state basketball champions. He was selected as a charter member of the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1952. In 1983 he was named to the Inland Empire Sports Hall of Fame.