Limback tabbed to lead Concordia men’s basketball program

SEWARD, Neb. – Ben Limback will return to his alma mater as Concordia’s head men’s basketball coach, the university announced Tuesday. Limback, formerly the head coach at Concordia University-Ann Arbor, steps into the role that Marty Kohlwey held during the 2012-13 season. Kohlwey will resume his position as the program’s top assistant.

“I feel truly blessed to be back at the university that gave me so much as a student-athlete,” Limback said. “The only thing better than sharing a history with a place like Concordia is being a part of its exciting future. I look forward to working with the current team, welcoming new Bulldogs and reconnecting with alumni.”

Limback emerged as the top candidate among a field of applicants of more than 100.

“I am ecstatic to welcome Ben back to the Bulldog family,” Director of Athletics Devin Smith said. “He is a proven winner with a track record of building and maintaining a highly competitive NAIA men’s basketball program. In addition, his familiarity with the GPAC and with our university and its Christ-centered foundation combine to make him the ideal choice to return Bulldog men’s basketball to excellence.”

Limback, a 1999 Concordia graduate and native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, brings nearly a decade of NAIA head coaching experience having spent nine years as the head coach at CU-Ann Arbor. Limback, who has also served as the school’s director of admissions since 2010 and its athletics director from 2009-2011, is the Cardinals’ all-time winningest men’s basketball head coach with 115 victories. He earned Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2007 and was recognized as the WHAC Champions of Character Coach by the NAIA in both 2009 and 2010. In 2007 Limback led CU-Ann Arbor to its first ever Concordia Invitational Tournament title.

Prior to becoming CU-Ann Arbor’s head coach, Limback filled the role of assistant coach for three seasons from 2000-2003 at NCAA Division II Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville in Edwardsville, Ill., where he was tutored by current NCAA Division I Evansville University head coach Marty Simmons. That coaching stop was preceded by a one-year stint with Concordia-Nebraska for the 1999-2000 season under 23-year head coach Grant Schmidt.

From 1995-99, Limback donned the Bulldog jersey as a player for Coach Schmidt. As a senior during the 1998-99 season, he earned Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors and was named the Nebraska State College Player of the Year by the Omaha World-Herald. In addition, he twice received both NAIA honorable mention All-America (1998 and 1999) and NAIA Academic All-America (1998 and 1999) accolades. He was a member of Bulldog teams that advanced to the national tournament on three separate occasions.

Upon graduation from Concordia, Limback received his bachelor’s degree in psychology and physical education. He went on to earn his Master of Science degree in kinesiology from SIU-Edwardsville in 2002.

Limback and his wife Kelley have four children: Leighton, Malachi, Kennedy and Emerson.

Since 1991, Bulldog men’s basketball has appeared in the national tournament nine times, including a runner up finish in 2005 and an appearance in the semifinals in 1992 at the NAIA Division II National Championships. Since becoming a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference beginning with the 2000-01 season, Concordia has produced a league mark of better than .500 in seven seasons.

Concordia University, Nebraska, founded in 1894, is a fully accredited, coeducational university located in Seward, Neb. that currently serves over 2,200 students. Concordia offers more than 50 professional and liberal arts programs in an excellent academic and Christ-centered community that equips men and women for lives of learning, service and leadership in the church and world. For more information, visit cune.edu.