Ed Biedenbach

Ed Biedenbach

Edward Joseph "Eddie" Biedenbach (born August 12, 1945) is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has led Asheville to three NCAA tournament appearances. In 2003, they lost to Texas in the first round. In 2011, they beat Arkansas-Little Rock in the First Four before losing to Pittsburgh in the Round of 64. In 2012, UNC-Asheville clinched its third NCAA bid (all under Biedenbach) by defeating VMI 80-64 in the Big South Championship game. They were defeated by Syracuse in the Round of 64. Biedenbach gave current Texas head coach Rick Barnes his first coaching job when he hired him as an assistant at Davidson.

He played collegiately for the North Carolina State University and was selected First Team All-ACC twice.

He was selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the 9th round (106th pick overall) of the 1967 NBA Draft and by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 4th round (45th pick overall) of the 1968 NBA Draft.

He played for the Phoenix Suns (1968–69) in the NBA for 7 games.

He was an assistant coach for the 1973–74 NC State basketball team which won the NCAA championship.

In 2007-2008, the UNC Asheville Bulldogs garnered national spotlight attention because of 7'7" center Kenny George. Although the Bulldogs lost in the Big South Conference Tournament final game to Winthrop Eagles, 2007-2008 season was a very successful season.

The 2011-2012 season was the most successful season in Asheville basketball history. Led by four seniors (J.P. Primm, Matt Dickey, Chris Stephenson, and Quinard Jackson), the Bulldogs won a school record 24 wins. After winning the Big South Conference regular season title and tournament, the Bulldogs were awarded a 16 seed in the NCAA tournament and played the Syracuse Orange, the number 1 seed in the East Region. The Bulldogs led most of the game. However, due to couple of controversial calls down the stretch near the end of regulation, the Bulldogs narrowly missed the historic opportunity to upset the Orange, led by coach Jim Boeheim.