Ed Badger
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 5, 1932 |
| Nationality | American |
| Career information | |
| College | Iowa |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| ?–? | St. Mary's HS |
| ?–? | Marengo HS |
| 1958–1973 | Wilbur Wright College |
| 1973–1976 | Chicago Bulls (asst.) |
| 1976–1978 | Chicago Bulls |
| 1978–1983 | University of Cincinnati |
| 1983–1984 | Cleveland Cavaliers (asst.) |
| 1984–1986 | Boston Celtics (asst. / dir. of scouting) |
| 1988–1990 | Charlotte Hornets (asst. / dir. of scouting) |
| 1990–1992 | Atlanta Hawks (dir. of scouting) |
| 1992–1994 | Indiana Pacers (asst.) |
| 1994–1996 | Miami Heat (asst.) |
| 1996–1998 | Philadelphia 76ers (asst.) |
| 1998–2002 | Minnesota Timberwolves (chief scout) |
Ed Badger (born November 5, 1932) is a former college and professional basketball coach.
Badger played college basketball at the University of Iowa, and later for the U.S. Air Force and division teams. He got his first basketball coaching job at St. Mary's High School, while getting his master's degree from the University of Iowa. After receiving his master's degree, Badger moved to Marengo, Iowa to coach the Marengo High School basketball team. He won the conference in his second year.
Badger then moved up to the college coaching ranks. For the next 15 years he was a very successful head basketball coach at Wright College, a city college on Chicago's northwest side. Badger's teams won 25 or more games ever year he coached. In the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons Badger's teams went 33-0 and were ranked number 1 nationally in the polls for junior college teams.
Badger became an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls from 1973-1976. He became the head coach of the Chicago Bulls for two seasons, from 1976 to 1978. He had a winning record and made the playoffs in his first season. He was head coach of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats' men's basketball team from 1978 to 1983, where he was a two-time Metro Conference coach of the year. On Dec. 21, 1981 Badger's team defeated Bradley 75-73 in a game that went into seven overtime periods.
Badger accepted an assistant coach job with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1983. He then joined the Boston Celtics as an assistant coach and director of scouting under K.C. Jones in 1984, where he won an NBA championship with the 1985-1986 team, considered by many to be one of the greatest NBA teams of all time.
In 1988 Badger became vice president of basketball operations for the new expansion team Charlotte Hornets, where he stayed until 1990. He joined the Atlanta Hawks as director of scouting from 1990-1992. In 1992, he returned as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers, followed by assistant coach jobs with Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers and a chief scout job for the Minnesota Timberwolves before retiring in 2003.
In international basketball, Badger was an Olympic basketball camp coach from 1968-1974. He also coached the Austrian national team in 1972 and coached the 1973 U.S. team during the World University Games in Moscow, winning the gold medal.