PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (WHTM) — When UNC takes on UCLA on Friday night, there will be a group of fans from Carlisle to cheer on one of the best basketball players to ever come from the Midstate.
Carlisle legend Jeff Lebo is a first-year assistant coach with the UNC Tarheels, where he also played in college.
"I love being a former player and being part of our players lives here because I went through and walked the walk," Lebo said. "Just to do it here and do it with these guys and try to help them at this point in my career is a dream come true for me."
As a Tarheels player, Lebo won the ACC CHampionship over Duke in 1989, and now has a chance to help advance the team to the Elite Eight in the coaching staff's first season with the program. UNC alum Hubert Davis took over the program after Roy Williams retired in 2021.
"To come back in the Sweet 16 and be back in your home state have some family coming to the game," Lebo said of playing at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. "It's kind of nice for a guy that's 55 years old to be able to live this out and finish his career here."
Lebo's basketball career started at Carlisle High School where he played for his dad, Dave.
"I've been fortunate enough to be around a lot of great coaches and experience a lot of different things at every different level," Jeff said. "To me he is the best coach I've ever been around."
As a high school senior, Jeff and the Thundering Herd won the first of what turned into four consecutive state titles, starting in 1985. Jeff was a senior when fellow Carlisle legend Billy Owens was a freshman.
"We had everyone there rally around the team; the community was 100% behind us," Jeff said. "Everywhere we went every game was sold out. We had almost like a cult like following."
The Carlisle Thundering Herd became legendary in the 1980's for their four straight AAAA state titles. As Owens career took him to Syracuse and into the NBA, everyone in the state became infatuated by the state titles run.
"It was kind of cool for a little small Central Pennsylvania town to be able to do the things and have the pride of the community out for everyone to see not only in the state of PA, but in the country," Jeff said.
After his college playing career, Jeff spent one season in the NBA before transitioning into coaching. His head coaching career spanned 20 years at schools like Auburn and East Carolina. His dad, Dave, was on the bench as an assistant for many of those years.
"It's part of our family, it's part of our history," Jeff said. "This game has been good to us, and we're very appreciative of that."
The Lebo father-son basketball relationship continues, as Jeff's son Creighton is a sophomore on UNC.
"It's awesome to be able to see him everyday, [although] he might not like it too much," Jeff said through laughter. "I certainly enjoy it. It's part of our history as Lebos."
After watching his dad and granddad coach at every level, Creighton hopes to follow his dad's footsteps into coaching one day.
"He's a basketball guy and he wants to coach," Jeff said. "He loves being around the game. He's a junkie and it's just nice to see him have some success."
Jeff says his sisters are making the trip to Philly for the Sweet 16 matchup against UCLA on Friday night, as UNC hopes to keep their NCAA Tournament berth alive and advance to the Elite Eight.
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