Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- 552-8461
Coach Lippi joined the California Baptist University coaching staff as an Assistant Coach under Rick Croy in June of 2023.
In the 2024-2025 season, Coach Lippi and the Lancers finished 17-15 and made the WAC tournament for the fifth consecutive season where they defeated #6 Tarleton State to reach the semifinals for the first time in program history. The Lancers defeated Grand Canyon at home and finished the season with double digit home wins for the sixth time in the DI era.
In his first season with the Lancers, Coach Lippi and the Lancers finished 16-17 and made the WAC Tournament for the third consecutive season where they defeated #5 Utah Valley in the opening round before falling to Seattle U in the Quarterfinals.
Lippi spent the 2022-23 season at UC Santa Barbara as Special Assistant to the Head Coach, Joe Pasternack. In his lone year with the Gauchos the team won the Big West regular season and tournament championships, meeting Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Lippi helped UC Santa Barbara to a school record for wins (27), a top 10 field goal percentage offense in the country and the Player of the Year in the conference, Ajay Mitchell who was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 NBA Draft.
The season prior in 2021-22, Lippi was an Assistant Coach at the University of Redlands under Eric Bridgeland, who Lippi played for at Whitman College. He was an integral part in the rebuild of the program for one season.
Lippi’s first stint in college basketball coaching was at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga where he spent a total of six seasons (2015-2021) with Head Coach Randy Bennett. Lippi started out as a Graduate Assistant Coach earning his Master’s Degree in Kinesiology from Saint Mary’s College in the summer of 2017. Lippi moved on to Assistant Director of Basketball Operations/Video Coordinator for the 2017-18 season. From 2018-21 Lippi was promoted to the Director of Basketball Operations. In six seasons with the Gaels, Lippi was part of three NCAA Tournament appearances, two WCC Championships, and a 76% winning percentage (150-47). During his time at Saint Mary’s, Lippi coached 3 players who spent time in the NBA, Jock Landale (Houston Rockets), Jordan Ford (Sacramento Kings) and Malik Fitts (Boston Celtics).
Prior to joining the Saint Mary’s coaching staff, Lippi was a student-athlete at Division III Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. At Whitman, Lippi was the winningest three-year player in the school’s history and ranks 11th in career 3-point FG percentage at 38%. During his senior year in 2014-15, he led Whitman to a program best 14-2 Northwest Conference record and an overall record of 20-6, the program’s best overall record in 29 seasons.
In high school at St. Joseph Notre Dame, Lippi played for his father, Don Lippi, who is one of the most accomplished high school basketball coaches in California state history with over 900 wins. In Lippi’s senior year (2011), his team finished 27-9 and won the California Division V state title.
