David Gabe Pilipovich (born January 28, 1964) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach. Pilipovich is an assistant coach at The

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

He played college basketball at Thiel and has been a basketball coach since 1988. After five years as an assistant coach at the program, Pilipovich was head coach at the

U.S. Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Un ...

from 2012 to 2020.

Early life and education

Pilipovich grew up in

Duquesne, Pennsylvania Duquesne ( ) is a city along the Monongahela River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 5,254 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The city of Duquesne wa ...

and graduated from Duquesne High School. At

Thiel College Thiel College (, ) is a private college in Greenville, Pennsylvania, United States. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is one of the smallest colleges in the region with about 100 full-time and part-time faculty ...

, Pilipovich played basketball for four years and was a team captain as a senior. He graduated from Thiel in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. In 1988, he completed a master's degree in geography and regional planning from

California University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, California (abbreviated as PennWest California) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in California, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus had an enrollment of 2,717 as of fall 2024. Founded in 1852 ...

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1986–2005)

Pilipovich began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at

in 1986 before being named an assistant coach in 1988. Then from 1989 to 1991, Pilipovich was an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic. He was promoted to associate head coach, a position he would have from 1991 to 1994. From 1994 to 1996, Pilipovich was an assistant coach at

Georgia State Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the second large ...

. He then returned to Western Pennsylvania to be assistant coach at

Robert Morris Robert or Bob Morris may refer to: :''Ordered chronologically within each section.'' Politics and the law * Robert Hunter Morris (1700–1764), lieutenant governor of Colonial Pennsylvania * Robert Morris (financier) (1734–1806), one of the Foun ...

from 1996 to 2000. At Robert Morris, Pilipovich helped head coach Jim Boone turn around a losing program, with two straight winning seasons in 1998–99 with a 15–12 record followed by an 18–12 record in 1999–2000. Pilipovich then followed Boone to

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

, serving as an assistant coach from 2000 to 2005, the entirety of Boone's tenure at the school.

Michigan assistant (2005–2007)

From 2005 to 2007, Pilipovich served on the staff of

Tommy Amaker Harold Tommy Amaker Jr. (; born June 6, 1965) is an American college basketball coach and the head coach of the Harvard University men's basketball team. He has also coached for the University of Michigan and Seton Hall University. He played po ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, first as an administrative assistant in 2005–06 then as an assistant coach in 2006–07. Michigan appeared in two straight NITs that season, including the

2006 National Invitation Tournament The 2006 National Invitation Tournament was the first time the tournament was planned and operated by the NCAA, taking over after 68 years under the auspices of the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association (MIBA). The 2006 NIT also ...

final.

Air Force assistant (2007–2012)

From 2007 to 2012, Pilipovich spent five years as an assistant at

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

under Jeff Reynolds. Following the 2009-10 season, the Falcons appeared in the post-season collegeinsider.com tournament. This was the Falcons first post-season tournament since 2007.

Air Force (2012–2020)

Pilipovich became the head coach at Air Force in February 2012 after Reynolds was relieved of his duties. In his first year as head coach, he led the Falcons to a 58-56 victory over then 13th-ranked San Diego State, marking Air Force's first-ever win against a Top 20 team and just its second win over a ranked opponent. Pilipovich won two of his first three games as Air Force's head coach. In the 2012–13 season, Pilipovich led the Falcons to an 18–14 (8–8 MWC) record, tying the fourth most single season wins in program history. Air Force appeared in the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and achieved the first post-season road win in school history with a 69-65 victory at

Hawai'i Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

. Pilipovich also became the first Air Force head coach to beat two ranked teams in the same season and owns three of Air Force's four wins against ranked opponents, including an 89-88 win over the twelfth ranked

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. However, the 2012–13 season would be the only winning season that Pilipovich had in eight full seasons as head coach. In 2018–19, Air Force finished 14–18 (8–10 MW), tying the 2012–13 team for the most single season conference wins. However, the 2019–20 team had a 12–20 (5–13 MW) record. On March 9, 2020, Pilipovich was fired. Pilipovich left Air Force with a cumulative 110–151 (50–99 MW) record.

New Mexico assistant (2020–2021)

Pilipovich became special assistant to head coach

Paul Weir Paul Weir (born 16 September 1967) is a Scottish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2000. He was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO mini-flyweight title in 1993 and the WBO junior-flyweight title fro ...

on October 23, 2020.

Austin Spurs (2021–2022)

In September 2021, he was named an assistant coach with the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the po ...

, the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

development team for the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

Personal

Pilipovich is married to Kelly and has two children, Kyle and Kelsey. Pilipovich is of Serbian descent.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links