Michael began as the Axemen’s head coach in 2021. Prior to his arrival at Acadia as the interim head coach last season, Leslie was the President and General Manager of the Halifax Hurricanes basketball club before COVID-19 suspended play of the National Basketball League (NBL).

Leslie coached the Hurricanes from 2016 to 2019 before moving to the front office. He returned to the bench seven games into the 2019-20 campaign. Leslie was named the 2017-18 NBL Canada Coach of the Year and during his tenure was named the NBL Coach of the Month five times.

From 2012 to 2016, Leslie was an assistant coach with the Island Storm of the NBL and is a former President and Director of Elite Development with Basketball PEI and a coach with the Canada Basketball Atlantic High-Performance program.

Leslie has an extensive background as an educator in the P.E.I. educational system that preceded his passion as a basketball coach.