 |
 One
of the all-time great basketball scorers to come out of Beaver
County is New Brighton’s Chris Pipkin. He was a virtual scoring
machine at the high school, college and pro levels.
A four year starter at New Brighton, Chris, who graduated in 1989,
was a man among boys. The highlight of his first three years was at
the prestigious Blackhawk Christmas Classic. There he averaged 43
points over a three game period, capping it with a 55 point
performance. The iconic Classic never saw such a performance before
or after.
As a senior, Chris was Mr. Everything. He led the WPIAL in scoring
with a 31.6 average, was Section MVP, selected first team All-State,
played in the Roundball Classic feature game, and was named a sixth
team All-American. He scored 1962 career points.
Off to Eastern Michigan University, Chris started some ten games as
a freshman, helping his team to a 19 win season. As a sophomore, he
played just three games (all as a starter) before fracturing his
ankle. That cost him the rest of the season and he received a
redshirt.
Chris returned for two more years at EMU, totaling 759 points and
281 rebounds in his three seasons. For his final year, he
transferred to Talladega College in Alabama.
At Talladega, he had a marvelous year. He averaged 21 ppg, made All
Southern Conference, and was a NAIA third team All-American. He
became the school’s first All-American in some 20 years.
Chris then took his talents overseas. He played in Ireland,
Australia and New Zealand over the next four years. In Belfast
Ireland, he was named the Rookie of the Year and the Import Player
of the Year, leading the Stars of the Sea to their first ever
regular season title.
The next year, Chris played for the Hobart Hornets in the Australian
Pro League. There he was averaging over 30 points a game when he was
dealt to the Southland Sharks of New Zealand. With the Sharks, Chris
was named MVP for the season and in the National Tournament. He
averaged 35 points per contest.
When Chris returned to the States, he got involved in coaching at
the high school level at three schools, including one year as
Quigley’s head coach. Chris also assisted at CCBC for two years.
Chris has also graduated from the police academy. His family
includes wife Velentia and children Christiana, Nickolous and Chris
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