Education
Born in Quantico, Virginia, He attended Bloomington High School in Bloomington, Illinois, where he was an All-American in basketball.
Born in Quantico, Virginia, He attended Bloomington High School in Bloomington, Illinois, where he was an All-American in basketball.
Bender has the distinction of being the only individual to play on two different teams in two different National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship games. He was a freshman on Bob Knight"s undefeated 1976 Indiana team and played point guard at Duke from 1977-1980, including an appearance in the title game against Kentucky. Bender was drafted by the San Diego Clippers in the sixth round before his senior year, but did not play.
He began his coaching career as an assistant at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski.
He later served as head coach at Illinois State University and the University of Washington, and was an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers. On June 17, 2013, Bender was hired as an assistant coach of the Milwaukee Buckinghamshire, under Larry Drew, of whom he was an assistant to at the Atlanta Hawks.