Justin Pippen
Justin Pippen is an American college basketball player for the California Golden Bears of the Atlantic Coast Conference. He played his freshman season for the 2024–25 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team before joining the 2025–26 California Golden Bears men's basketball team as a sophomore after attending Sierra Canyon School. He is the son of Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame player Scottie Pippen and reality television personality Larsa Pippen as well as the younger brother of current National Basketball Association player, Scotty Pippen Jr.
Life and career
Pippen is the sixth of Scottie Pippen's seven children and his fourth and final son. Born on July 11, 2005 in California, he is the third son and third of four children Pippen has with Larsa Pippen and younger brother of Scotty Pippen Jr. He is first-cousins with Kavion Pippen. His half-sister, Taylor Pippen, was an All-American volleyball player at Southern Illinois University. In four seasons playing for the Sierra Canyon HS Trailblazers, the team achieved 3 20-win seasons and an overall four-year record of 91-22. The 2022-23 team saw senior Ashton Hardaway join Bronny James and Bryce James during Pippen's junior year. In October 2022, Pippen was on an Overtime Elite team of California players featuring the James brothers, Hardaway and Drew Fisher.Rather than play on the AAU summer circuit before his senior year, he spent time practicing with his older brother, Scotty Pippen Jr., doing NBA offseason workout sessions that at times included Kenyon Martin Jr., Devin Booker, Jalen Green and Kevin Durant. Among Pippen's teammates in high school were Isaiah Elohim, Bronny James and Amari Bailey, and he attributes his defensive skills to practicing against James and Bailey, especially as an on-ball defender. Like his older brother, who had no offers until the end of his junior year of high school, he was a basketball late bloomer. His father averaged just 4.3 points per game as a freshman in college.
One of his biggest games was a 24-point performance in a 74-68 win over USA Today number three ranked Harvard-Westlake to bring Sierra Canyon's record to 21-1 on January 19, 2024. Pippen made 6 three-point shots. Sierra trailed the defending state Open Division champions and Los Angeles Times number one ranked team by 8 points with six minutes left before posting an 18-0 run.
As a senior, Pippen averaged 16.5 points, 4.9 assists & 4.5 rebounds, and he was a top 100 member of the national class of 2024. 247Sports listed him with a 71st in its composite ranking for the 2024 class. He took official visits to UC Santa Barbara, Texas A&M and Michigan before choosing Michigan over offers from Cal, Florida, Texas A&M and Stanford. Pippen was going to sign with Cal, but Michigan became a late contender for his services when Dusty May was hired to replace Juwan Howard as head coach and recruited Pippen as a combo guard.
College
Pippen played in 28 games off the bench for the 2024–25 Michigan Wolverines averaging 1.6 points in 6.7 minutes per game. He only played 10 or more minutes five times. Pippen posted his season high 10 points on December 22, 2024 against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons. He also posted career bests at the time in rebounds and assists. Pippen's last game appearance for Michigan was in the March 9 regular season finale in the rivalry game 79-62 loss against Michigan State where he chipped in 2 points and an assist. That season Michigan achieved 27 wins, won the 2025 Big Ten men's basketball tournament, and reached the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Pippen entered the NCAA transfer portal while the team was still alive in the Sweet Sixteen round of the tournament.In his first 10 appearances for the 2025–26 Cal Bears, he started at point guard, scored at least 13 points in nine of them, and took the team lead in assists, steals, and blocked shots. On December 2, Pippen contributed 23 points against Utah to lead Cal to a 79-72 victory and the school's first 7-1 start since the 2016–17 Bears team. On December 9, Pippen posted a game-high and career-high 24 points in a 93-71 victory against NCAA Division II Dominican Penguins. Pippen was sidelined for the December 13 victory over Northwestern State and his efforts were missed on both ends of the court. The victory gave Cal its first 10-1 start since the 2014–15 team. After being sidelined for two games, Pippen returned on December 21 to help Cal defeat Columbia to reach 12-1. The last time the school started 12-1 had been the 1959–60 team that entered the 1960 NCAA University Division basketball tournament with one loss and were national runner-up. On January 17, Pippen posted 19 points, including 2 free throws with 10 seconds remaining, and 5 assists in a victory against No. 14-ranked North Carolina. He followed that up with 18 points and 6 assists in the January 24 rivalry game victory against Stanford.