Athlete – Basketball
Leslie Nichols Carter was born and raised in Lexington, KY by the late Harvey and Mae Nichols. She is the second oldest of five siblings: Sandy, Harvetta, Shell, Gwendolyn, and Dylan.
When Leslie was only 10, she tagged along with her older sister, Sandy, to the park’s basketball court. It was the first year Lexington offered girls basketball as a sport. Sandy taught Leslie how to do a layup that day, and she fell in love with the game.
Leslie attended Henry Clay High School, where she led the Blue Devils to win their first-ever District Title in 1980. In 1982, the team won the 11th Region Championship and a Final Four appearance in the Kentucky Girls Sweet 16 State Tournament. During Leslie’s senior year, she averaged 22 points and 16 rebounds, being named All-State and fourth team Parade All-American. She was also selected to the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star and East/West All Star teams, and soon after became a member of the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Hall of Fame.
Leslie’s award-winning high school run, exceptional athleticism, and multi-dimensional skills earned her an athletic scholarship to the University of Kentucky, where she earned many accolades and became one of UK’s all-time greatest performers on the hardwood. As a four-year starting forward, she earned Rookie of the Year honors and was the three-time MVP at UK.
Many records were set by Leslie during her college career, including having 11 steals in one game. Leslie led UK in scoring and steals for three straight seasons and earned first team All-SEC honors three times consecutively. Leslie was the first player in UK history, of both the men’s and women’s programs, to log a triple-double. She is already a member of the UK Athletics Hall of Fame, Top 50 UK Women Athletes of the Title IX Era, 2004 SEC Great and ESPN list of best players in college women’s basketball history by jersey number.
After her college career, Leslie played basketball in Bordeaux, France during the fall of 1986 and returned to Lexington in the Spring of 1987 to complete her Bachelor of Agriculture Economics degree. She spent time as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky but has also held various corporate positions in Sales and Marketing and Customer Service, currently at Amazon.
Leslie and her husband, Allen, are now the owners of Silver Springs Farm Eqwine & Vineyard, where they enjoy producing award-winning wine and operating a small thoroughbred breeding farm.
