Leila Raines

Biography

Former Michigan State women’s golf standout Leila Raines returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach on May 27, 2025. Raines, who played for the Spartans from 2021-24 and graduated from MSU in May 2024, spent the 2024-25 season as an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University. While in Arizona, Raines helped to guide the Lopes to seven top-5 finishes, including two team wins last year. The Lopes had four golfers earn All-Western Athletic Conference postseason honors, the most of any team in the league. Grand Canyon, ranked No. 79 in the NCAA rankings, finished in sixth place in the Western Athletic Conference tournament. Raines, the first MSU player to compete in four-straight NCAA Championships, had a stellar career in the Green and White, finishing her career among the all-time leaders in program history. She is the only Spartan to ever qualify for the NCAA Division I National Championship in all four years played, including once as an individual (2022) and three times with the team (2021, 2023-24). During her playing career, she set the school record for the low 54-hole tournament score in program history, firing a 13-under par 203 (69-69-65) at the Moon Golf Invitational in 2023. As a senior in 2024, she set a program record for the low 54-hole score in an NCAA Regional (East Lansing), finishing in fourth place with a 6-under par 210 (73-68-69). In 2021, her 6-under par 66 at the Briar’s Creek Invitational set a record for the lowest round ever by a freshman and in 2