The Fairleigh Dickinson women’s basketball team and head coach Pete Cinella announced the hiring of Rich Biddulph as an assistant coach for the start of the 2018-19 season.
A New Jersey native, Biddulph previously was the director of operations for the women’s basketball program at Siena. Before Siena, Biddulph worked for three seasons as an assistant coach at the collegiate level and over eight years additionally at the high school level.
“We’re very happy to have Rich join us,” Coach Cinella said. “Rich brings a lot of experience, coming from Siena College, and before that State Fair, a high-level community college program in Missouri. It’s great having a New Jersey guy on our staff. He brings a great deal of energy and knowledge to our staff.”
Biddulph spent the previous season with the Siena College Saints as the women’s basketball director of operations. Biddulph was involved with all aspects of the program, including scouting reports, game preparation, practice planning and in-game adjustments. Siena finished last season with a 17-14 record to place third in the MAAC, the program’s best regular-season finish in 14 years. The Saints reached the MAAC semifinals with Biddulph on staff. He also helped to develop first-team All-MAAC guard Kollyns Scarbrough, and six of his players made the MAAC All-Academic squad as well.
“I am very excited that Coach Cinella has brought me into the FDU women’s basketball family,” said Biddulph. “Coach Cinella, Coach Inglese, Coach Johnson and I have already established great chemistry as a staff and it will be a pleasure working with them. We are lucky to coach a group of wonderful young women who are hungry to take the program to the next level. I am eager to put all of my energy into pursuing an NEC championship and preparing our student-athletes to reach their full potential and achieve success both on and off the court.”
Prior to Siena, Biddulph coached for two seasons at State Fair Community College in Missouri. In his first season with the Lady Roadrunners, he helped the program to a 22-8 record with the team winning a Region 16 Tournament Championship before falling in the District K Championship. The following season, Biddulph led the team to a 19-9 overall record and a Region 16 Division I semifinal appearance.
Preceding his stint at SFCC, Biddulph spent one season as an assistant coach at Union County College, a NJCAA Division II school in New Jersey. He helped lead the program to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament for the first time in 20 years. The team finished the regular season with a 24-4 record, while claiming a Region 19 Championship, District O Championship and Conference Championship.
Biddulph served as the head girls’ varsity basketball coach at The Patrick School in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Under Biddulph, the team won the conference championship and made a state sectional semifinal appearance while finishing 20-6.
He also served as an assistant coach from 2006-13 for St. Patrick High School boys’ basketball program. During that period, he coached current NBA players Kyrie Irving, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and DeAndre’ Bembry, and the program won six county titles and three Tournament of Champions state titles, ranking as high as number two in the country.
The New Jersey native completed his masters at Central Methodist University in Missouri. Biddulph earned his Bachelor's degree in philosophy and a minor in sociology with a concentration in africana studies from Haverford College in 2001.
