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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and former player who is an assistant coach for his alma mater,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

. 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 ori ...

(2010-2017), Auburn University (2004–2010), the

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...

(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 = G ...

, Vanderbilt, and

East Tennessee State East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a Public university, public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an instit ...

. 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 De ...

. 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 McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburge ...

. 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 Hi ...

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 Sys ...

. 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 The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

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 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 ...

. 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 NCAA Division I teams. The CIT began with 12 first-round games. Four of the teams that won first-round games advanced to the quarterfina ...

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