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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach. Pilipovich is an assistant coach at The

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

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 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 census. History The city of Duquesne was settled in 1789 and incorp ...

and graduated from Duquesne High School. At

Thiel College Thiel College (, ) is a private college in Greenville, Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is one of the smallest colleges or universities 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.

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1986–2005)

Pilipovich began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at California University of Pennsylvania 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. He then returned to Western Pennsylvania to be assistant coach at Robert Morris 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, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

, 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 U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, first as an administrative assistant in 2005–06 then as an assistant coach in 2006–07. 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 The 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was a postseason single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams. Games took place throughout March 2013. The semifinals were played on March 30 with the championship game played o ...

and achieved the first post-season road win in school history with a 69-65 victory at

Hawai'i Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

. 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 ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. 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 at

on October 23, 2020.

Austin Spurs (2021–present)

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

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American 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 postseason in 8 ...

, the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

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 league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

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