Jeffrey Brian Lebo (born October 5, 1966) is an American
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
coach and former player who is an assistant coach for his alma mater,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
. He was previously the head men's basketball coach at
East Carolina
East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina.
Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its origi ...
(2010-2017),
Auburn University (2004–2010), the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (2002–04), and
Tennessee Tech (1998–2002). Before becoming a head coach, he spent a total of eight years as an assistant coach at
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
,
Vanderbilt, and
East Tennessee State. He also spent a season as an assistant with the
Greensboro Swarm of the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA D ...
.
Lebo was born in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. As a high school player, he played for his father, Dave Lebo, at
Carlisle High School, where he was a
McDonald's All-American. The elder Lebo would later serve as an assistant to his son, at Auburn. As a collegian, Lebo was a 4-year starter (1986–1989) while playing for legendary coach
Dean Smith
Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel H ...
at the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC S ...
. While at Carolina, Lebo set the Tar Heel record for most consecutive free throws made (41 from January 3 to March 12, 1989), the most assists in a single game (17 vs. Chattanooga on November 18, 1988) and (at the time) had the highest career free throw shooting percentage (.839) in Tar Heel history (currently fifth all time) and was third in Tar Heel history with 580 assists (currently tenth all time). Lebo was also an Academic All American and graduated in 1989 with a degree in Business Administration. After leaving the Tar Heels, Lebo had a brief
NBA career as a member of the
San Antonio Spurs during the
1989-90 season, appearing in four games.
On March 12, 2010, following a loss to Florida in the 2010 SEC men's basketball tournament in Nashville, Lebo was fired as the head basketball coach at Auburn after compiling a 96-93 record in six years as coach of the Tigers to go along with no post-season NCAA tournament bids.
On March 22, 2010, Lebo was named head coach at
East Carolina University. During his first year in Greenville, Lebo led the ECU Pirates basketball team to 18 wins, their first winning season since 1997, and a spot in the
2011 CollegeInsider.com Tournament
The 2011 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was a postseason single-elimination tournament of 24 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I teams. The CIT began with 12 first-round games. Four of the ...
which was the first post-season appearance by the Pirates since the 1993 NCAA Tournament. The 18 wins were the second most wins ever by the ECU Pirates since becoming a Division I basketball team. During his third year at ECU, Lebo again led the Pirates to the CIT Tournament. The Pirates defeated Weber State and won the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Championship that year. On November 29, 2017, Lebo announced his resignation as the ECU Basketball Coach. He posted a 116-122 mark during his tenure at ECU.
On April 15, 2021, after former teammate
Hubert Davis
Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching career, Davis played for North Carolina from 19 ...
' hiring as the North Carolina head coach, Lebo was named as one of the three assistants for Davis' inaugural coaching staff, alongside former Tar Heel players Brad Frederick and
Sean May.
Head coaching record
''*Lebo underwent hip surgery on January 16, 2017 and missed the rest of the 2016–17 season. Assistant coach
Michael Perry took over as head coach in Lebo's absence. At the time of Lebo's absence, ECU was 9–10 overall and 1–5 in AAC play.
''**Lebo resigned on November 29, 2017.
References
External links
East Carolina Pirates bio@ basketballreference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebo, Jeff
1966 births
Living people
American men's basketball players
Auburn Tigers men's basketball coaches
Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania
Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games
Basketball players from Pennsylvania
Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball coaches
College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
East Carolina Pirates men's basketball coaches
East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball coaches
Greensboro Swarm coaches
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games
North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball coaches
North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players
Pan American Games medalists in basketball
Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania
San Antonio Spurs players
Shooting guards
South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball coaches
Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches
Undrafted National Basketball Association players
Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball coaches