Bio

Head Women's Basketball Coach

 3C2A California State Coach of the Year 2015, 2017, 2018

Elite Eight Appearances: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2025

Semifinal Appearances: 2017, 2023

Leigh Marshall, brought in by Athletic Director Scott Cathcart to rebuild Palomar's women's basketball program from what virtually was ground zero, has since guided the Comets to eleven Pacific Coast Athletic Conference and PCAC North Division championships, 12 SoCal Regional appearances, 11 consecutive, and seven Elite 8 appearances, including a 2017 and 2023 semifinal appearance, in the state community college playoffs.

Marshall was hired as Palomar's 11th head coach on Sept. 14, 2010, four weeks into the college's fall semester.

Marshall hit the ground running, filling a vacuum in the Palomar women's program which was teetering on the ink of collapse after the two previous head coaches left abruptly in the previous four months, one of them walking away just before classes began in August without recruiting a player or coaching a game.

Marshall had no returning players and, with fall registration already closed, was forced to recruit from a limited base of gym-class students and athletes from other sports. A number of players on that first team had never played basketball, and the Comets struggled through a winless season against a daunting schedule.

But Marshall managed to keep the program alive and after she continued the rebuilding project the following season, has turned out one dominant season after another from the 2012-13 season on. Marshall was named the conference Coach of the Year in 2012-13, 2014-2015, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2024-25, and 2025-26.

Marshall also coached and was an administrator with the Coastal Elite basketball program, where she coached the 17u boys' top team for nine years.

Marshall came to the Comets from El Modena High School in Orange, where she had been the head girls' coach since May 2008. The former Orange Coast College assistant coach took over an El Modena program that won one game the season before she arrived and, two seasons later, led the Vanguards into the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.

She began her coaching career as an assistant to veteran Mike Thornton at her community college alma mater, Orange Coast, in the 2001-02 season.

Marshall was a point guard at Orange Coast, playing a major role as the Pirates went 55-15 in her two seasons. She was a captain for Coast in her sophomore season of 2002-03, helping lead the Pirates to a 30-6 record and the CCCAA state community college championship.

Marshall, a Professor in the Department of Health and Physical Education, earned her Master of Arts degree with a major in Kinesiology from Cal State University Long Beach. She received her Bachelor of Science degree, also with a major in Kinesiology, from Cal State University Fullerton. She received her AA degree from Orange Coast.