Jerry Pimm

Jerry Pimm is a men's basketball coach who is best remembered for coaching at the University of Utah from 1974–1983 and the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1983-1998.

Playing career

Playing for Montebello High School, Pimm earned the Helms Athletic Foundation's Central Section co-high school player of the year in 1956.[1] He then played guard at the University of Southern California, where he earned all Pacific-8 Conference first-team honors twice and All-Coast Team honors once before graduating in 1960.[2]

Coaching career

Pimm replaced former Utah coach Bill Foster, who had accepted the same position with the Duke University Blue Devils, in 1974 after serving 13 years as an assistant coach at the school.[2] 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 basketball titles and only had one losing season during his stay. In the 1983 NCAA Men's basketball tournament, Pimm's Utes were seeded 10th in the west regional, but led by Pace Mannion, Utah upset 7th seed Illinois and 2nd seed UCLA before losing to eventual champion North Carolina State. However, the relationship between Jerry Pimm and the Utah Athletic Department became strained. Not seeing eye to eye, 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, the Gauchos went 22-8, including an 18 point win over Jim Valvano's North Carolina State team (with Chucky Brown, Charles Shackleford, and Vinny Del Negro), and two wins over Jerry Tarkanian's UNLV Runnin' Rebels (the second win coming when UNLV was ranked #2). UCSB eaarned its first ever NCAA Tournament berth, but they lost to the University of Maryland 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 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 Tournaments. 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.

He assisted Lute Olson with the US national team at the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1986 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal both times.[3]

Jamie Dixon and Ben Howland both were assistant coaches for Pimm while at UCSB.[4][5]

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Utah Runnin'Utes (WAC) (1974–1983)
1974-1975 Utah 17-9 7-5 4th
1975-1976 Utah 19-8 9-5 T-2nd
1976-1977 Utah 22-7 11-3 1st NCAA Sweet 16
1977-1978 Utah 23-6 12-2 2nd NCAA Sweet 16
1978-1979 Utah 20-10 9-3 2nd NCAA 1st Round
1979-1980 Utah 18-10 10-4 T-2nd
1980-1981 Utah 25-5 13-3 T-1st NCAA Sweet 16
1981-1982 Utah 11-17 6-10 7th
1982-1983 Utah 18-14 11-5 T-1st NCAA Sweet 16
Utah: 173-86 88-40
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (PCAA,Big West) (1983–1998)
1983-1984 UC Santa Barbara 10-17 5-13 9th (PCAA)
1984-1985 UC Santa Barbara 12-16 8-10 T-6th {PCAA}
1985–1986 UC Santa Barbara 12-15 7-11 9th (PCAA)
1986–1987 UC Santa Barbara 16-13 10-8 T-2nd (PCAA)
1987-1988 UC Santa Barbara 22-8 13-5 T-2nd (PCAA) NCAA 1st Round
1988-1989 UC Santa Barbara 21-9 11-7 3rd (Big West) NIT 1st Round
1989-1990 UC Santa Barbara 21-9 13-5 T-2nd (Big West) NCAA 2nd Round
1990-1991 UC Santa Barbara 14-15 8-10 T-4th (Big West)
1991-1992 UC Santa Barbara 20-9 13-5 2nd (Big West) NIT 1st Round
1992-1993 UC Santa Barbara 18-11 10-8 T-5th (Big West) NIT 1st Round
1993-1994 UC Santa Barbara 13-17 9-9 7th (Big West)
1994-1995 UC Santa Barbara 13-14 8-10 6th (Big West)
1995-1996 UC Santa Barbara 11-15 8-10 T-7th (Big West)
1996-1997 UC Santa Barbara 12-15 7-9 3rd (Big West-Western)
1997-1998 UC Santa Barbara 7-19 4-12 6th (Big West-Western)
UC Santa Barbara: 222-202 134-132
Total: 395-288

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ↑ "Jerry Pimm, Montelbello, and Jim Hanna, Poly Long Beach, Selected Co-players of Year in C.I.F. Basketball Central Section, for '56" (pdf). Helms Athletic Foundation. March 20, 1956. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Jerry Pimm Named Utah Court Coach". Reading Eagle. March 31, 1974. Retrieved December 21, 2015 – via Google News Archive.
  3. ↑ "All-Time USA Basketball Men's Teams Assistant Coaches". USA Basketball. November 3, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Up Close: Jamie Dixon". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 16, 2003. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Ben Howland, Head Coach". UCLA Athletics. Retrieved December 21, 2015. Howland served as an assistant coach at the UC Santa Barbara for 12 years (1982-83 through 1993-94).
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