Jerry Pimm is an American former

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. He served as the head men's basketball coach at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

from 1974 to 1983 and the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

from 1983 to 1998, compiling career

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coaching record of 395–288.

Playing career

Playing for Montebello High School, Pimm earned the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

's Central Section co-high school player of the year in 1956. He played at Fullerton Junior College in 1956-1958. He then played guard at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, where he earned second-team All-Athletic Association of Western Universities and All-Coast Team honors in 1960.

Coaching career

Pimm replaced former Utah coach Bill Foster, who had accepted the same position with the

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Blue Devils, in 1974 after serving 13 years as an assistant coach under Jack Gardner and Foster. As coach of the Utes, Pimm led Utah to a 173-86 (.668) record, including four Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA tournament. The Utes also won 3

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

basketball titles and only had one losing season during his stay. In 1981, the Utes lost to eventual champion North Carolina, led by Sam Perkins, Al Wood, and James Worthy. The Utes were led by Danny Vranes, Tom Chambers and Karl Bankowski. In the 1983 NCAA Men's basketball tournament, Pimm's Utes were seeded 10th in the west regional, but led by Peter Williams and

Pace Mannion Pace Shewan Mannion (born September 22, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in the Italian league with the team of Cantù (which won the FIBA Korać Cup in 1991 d ...

, Utah upset 7th seed Illinois and 2nd seed UCLA before losing to eventual champion North Carolina State. After the season, Pimm decided to leave the University of Utah for the University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to Pimm's career at UCSB, the Gauchos program had suffered through seven straight losing seasons. After a shaky start, which saw three more losing seasons, the Gauchos turned it around in the 1986-87 season, where they finished with a 16-13 record. The next season would be Pimm's best at UCSB. Led by conference player of the year

Brian Shaw Brian or Bryan Shaw may refer to: Sports * Brian Shaw (basketball) (born 1966), American basketball coach and former player * Bryan Shaw (baseball) (born 1987), American baseball player * Brian Shaw (ice hockey, born 1962), Canadian ice hockey pl ...

, the Gauchos went 22-8, including an 18-point win over

Jim Valvano James Thomas Anthony Valvano (March 10, 1946 – April 28, 1993), nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, culminating at NC State. Whi ...

's North Carolina State team (with

Chucky Brown Clarence "Chucky" Brown Jr. (born February 29, 1968) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional basketball player. A 6'7" forward from North Carolina State, Brown was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the secon ...

Charles Shackleford Charles Edward Shackleford (April 22, 1966 – January 27, 2017) was an American professional basketball player who played several seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played center and power forward, he was renowned for hi ...

, and

Vinny Del Negro Vincent Joseph Del Negro (born August 9, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the head coach of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls from 2008 to 2010, and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2010 to 2013. ...

), and two wins over

Jerry Tarkanian Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Reb ...

's UNLV Runnin' Rebels (the second win coming when UNLV was ranked #2). UCSB earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth, but they lost to the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in the first round, 92-82. In 1990, UCSB once again made the NCAA Tournament (propelled by a 78-70 win over top-ranked and eventual national champion UNLV), this time beating the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

70-66 in the first round before falling to #1 seed Michigan State 62-58 points in the 2nd round. Under Pimm, UCSB also played in three

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

s. In the mid-late 90s, UCSB had suffered through five straight losing seasons, and Pimm resigned, although he later took a job with the athletic department. Pimm went 217-187 (.537) in 16 seasons with the Gauchos. He holds an all-time record of 390-273 (.588) in 25 years as a head coach. Pimm assisted

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head co ...

with the US national team at the

1986 Goodwill Games The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Luzhniki Stadium, Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Sov ...

and the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was hel ...

, winning the gold medal both times.

Jamie Dixon James Patrick Dixon II (born November 10, 1965) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs men's team, where he played college ball. He previously served as the head coach of the University of Pittsburg ...

and

Ben Howland Benjamin Clark Howland (born May 28, 1957) is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as the men's head coach at Mississippi State University from to 2015 to 2022. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Northern Ar ...

both were assistant coaches for Pimm while at UCSB.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pimm, Jerry Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from California College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Guards (basketball) Junior college men's basketball players in the United States UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball coaches USC Trojans men's basketball coaches USC Trojans men's basketball players Utah Utes men's basketball coaches People from Montebello, California