Long-time St. Joseph Notre Dame (SJND) head basketball coach Don Lippi announced he is stepping away from his role as the leader of the men’s basketball program. Lippi’s retirement was announced in an article on the SJND website.

Lippi, 75, leaves after a legendary high school coaching career at St. Joes and several other Bay Area high schools. Over his 45-year career, Lippi won more than 900 victories, 23 league championships, 18 section championships, seven NorCal Championships, and four state championships. He was also inducted into the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame for the Class of 2020 — the 2020 awards were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He received the honor in 2022 (“https://alamedasun.com/news/alameda-high-school-coaches-honored,” June 23, 2022).

“I thank Coach Lippi for his many years of dedicated service and accomplishments, and I wish him well as he transitions into retirement and life’s next adventure,” said SJND Principal Julianne Guevara in an email to the SJND community announcing Lippi’s retirement. “Coach Lippi’s impact on the lives of thousands of students is immeasurable. We will greatly miss his presence on the SJND campus.”

Lippi began his head coaching career at SJND in 1978. He then went on to work as an assistant coach at Stanford University before heading back to high school ranks. He coached at St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School in Vallejo before coaching stints at Skyline High School in Oakland and St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco.

Lippi returned to SJND for the 2003-2004 season. That year, the Pilots defeated Verbum-Dei,49-47, to win the California State Division IV championship. It was the first of four state championships for SJND under Lippi. The Pilots also won state championships in 2011, 2014 (“https://alamedasun.com/news/st-joe%E2%80%99s-takes-state,” April 3, 2014), and 2016 (“https://alamedasun.com/news/sjnd-pilots-take-state-championship-title,” March 31, 2016).

Despite all of the victories, Lippi, considers his greatest accomplishments to include the impact he had on his players off of the court.

“My proudest moments as coach are many, including when my former players become coaches, when my players start their families and I get to visit them and share great memories and get updated on their lives,” said Lippi in the resignation announcement.

SJND will begin a search for its new men’s basketball coach, the school announced.

To read the retirement announcement post, visit www.sjnd.org/about/news/news-detail/~board/news-featured/post/legendary-....

Editor's note: This article was corrected to acknowledge Coach Lippi announced his retirement, not resignation.