‘His legacy will live on’

In life, few connected with others like Jeff Laping.

A legendary high school basketball coach and influential educator for more than 30 years, he was a figurative giant in Winnipeg’s hoops community with an innate ability to resonate with anyone he met.

Laping was a best friend to many, a confidant to others, and a mentor to even more.

He died on Monday, one week after suffering from cardiac arrest.

The 54-year-old is survived by his wife Leigh-Ann, their three children, Nicholas, Hayden, and Ashton, his mother Beverly and his siblings, Susie, Mike and Nicole.

“Jeff’s the friend that you hope you are to your friends,” said Kirby Schepp, head coach of the Manitoba Bisons men’s basketball program and a close friend of Laping’s for the last three decades.

“As a coach, he was obviously a very accomplished coach, a great coach… but at the same time, was able to build connections with students, athletes, people he was with, at a level that I don’t know if I know anyone who was able to do that.”

Following the 2025-26 basketball season, Laping stepped away from his post as head coach of St. Paul’s varsity team and was later appointed school principal. He was preparing for his first academic year in the new role.

A St. Paul’s graduate of 1989, Laping taught English for most of his career before recently serving as the school’s vice-principal.

“Jeff’s the friend that you hope you are to your friends.”

Five years after he returned to his alma mater as a student teacher, and three years after he started coaching the Crusaders’ junior varsity basketball team, Laping became the head coach of the varsity program in 2000.

Under Laping’s guidance over the last 25 years, the Crusaders amassed an overall record of 501-223, captured five conference championships and four provincial titles, reached the provincial Final Four 12 times and appeared in the provincial final eight times. He also helped coach two teams to provincial football championships, including one with the Oak Park Raiders.

Twenty-five of Laping’s basketball players went on to play at the U Sports level, where he also served as an assistant coach across two stints with the Bisons.

In the eyes of many, it’s a run that might never be matched.

“He’s one of the great high school basketball coaches we’ve ever had in Manitoba history, and that is insignificant to the legacy that he leaves,” Schepp said.

Both on the sideline and in the classroom, Laping was as influential as he was demanding; as fierce as he was tender.

“Jeff’s a guy that just gets it, to be frank. He, emotionally, is so adept. He’s so good with people. People love him,” said Amir Ali, who played under Laping on the Crusaders varsity team from 2008-10 and again with the Bisons.

“I remember in the early stages, he would be very loud, fiery and aggressive. He’d be yelling at you, and I don’t know if he got that from his dad or if it was Bobby Knight or whoever he was watching back in the day, but… at the same time, he sits you down and he can kind of talk you through it, and he’s very well spoken and can articulate it.

“But I also watched that change over time,” added Ali. “I noticed far more in the last 10 years, just like a sense of calm, and he can exude that onto his players.”

Laping’s first varsity game as a head coach came in 2000 against Schepp, who was at Silver Heights Collegiate at the time.

His last game was on March 19 against another good friend, Dean Favoni, in the 2026 AAAA provincial varsity semifinals between St. Paul’s and Dakota.

“I think people that are in education, who are teachers and coaches who have been in the game for a long time, likely don’t last as long as Jeff lasted in those capacities with the success that he had unless you build strong relationships with the people around you. But it was done with absolute sincerity,” said Favoni, who coached alongside Laping and Schepp on the 2007-08 provincial teams and at the 2009 Canada Games.

“He’s one of the great high school basketball coaches we’ve ever had in Manitoba history.”

“There was no arrogance about him, and when you consider the on-court success that he’s had… It didn’t matter if he was talking to a university coach or somebody who was at the beginning of their coaching career. He had time for everybody, and he was willing to help anybody.”

As Laping grew in his career, so did his influence on those around him.

He served as president of the Manitoba Basketball Coaches Association, where he became a sounding board for young coaches across the province.

Laping also grew a reputation for being a coach who would go the extra mile for his students and players. It was common for him to drive students to school every morning and have players over for dinner with his family in the evening.

For that reason, Laping became someone whom students would turn to long after they graduated — not just as a mentor, but as a friend.

“I think that’s the big part. It’s like from the connection point, he was amazing at that, and he wasn’t just a coach,” said Justus Alleyn, who played under Laping at St. Paul’s (2011-13) and with the Bisons.

His impact became akin to the one his father, Nick, had during his influential coaching career in football and basketball. Nick died in 2009.

“He just kind of had his finger on the pulse of what’s going on with so many people,” said Ali, “and it’s interesting to me how many people have that type of relationship because we were so close and he was so present for me at all times, and I’m so dumbfounded to think how he was also there for so many people at the same time.”

The Laping family will host a celebration of life open to the public on Sept. 1 at St. Paul’s High School inside the Paul Albrechtsen MultiPlex at 1 p.m. A reception will follow.

The mass will be live-streamed on YouTube for those unable to attend. Event details can be found at stpauls.mb.ca.

“His influence is quite wide; it’s not limited to basketball. He mentored and advised hundreds of students, not just student athletes,” said Favoni. “It’s a devastating blow to his family first and foremost, but also to his school and to the basketball community. His legacy will live on through the many relationships he’s built.

“I will miss my good friend.”

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