Hall of Fame

Tom Pipkins

Tom Pipkins

  • Class
  • Induction
    2023
  • Sport(s)
    Athlete

Alma Mater: Valley, 1993 | Sport: Basketball

A 1993 graduate of Valley, Tom Pipkins owned the WPIAL’s all-time boys’ basketball scoring record for 30 seasons with 2,838 points, breaking the previous mark set in 1955 by 2008 WPIAL Hall of Fame inductee Don Hennon. Pipkins established the new record with a dunk against South Park on Jan. 29, 1993, and also reached the 1,000 and 2,000-point milestones with dunks. He helped lead the Vikings to their only WPIAL championship and a PIAA 3A runner-up finish in 1993, and was twice named an All-State selection. Pipkins earned an invite to the 1992 Nike All-American Camp for the top 100 high school players in the United States, earned Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fab 5 honors in 1992 and 1993, and was selected as the publication’s Male Athlete of the Year as a senior. He continued his basketball career at Duquesne University, where he scored 26 points in his collegiate debut – a school record for a player’s first game. He finished his first season with the Dukes by setting freshman program records in total points (441), points per game (14.7), total minutes (1,138), and minutes per game (37.9), and garnered Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Year accolades. A two-time All-Atlantic 10 Third Team pick, Pipkins currently owns the Duquesne career record for three-point field goals made with 311, ranks third in points (1,828), and is tied for fifth in steals (177). He was inducted into the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Hall of Fame in 2022, and was part of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s 40th Anniversary Boys’ Basketball All-Time Fab 5 Team in 2020. Pipkins graduated from Duquesne with a Bachelor’s degree in communication studies and a minor in history, and currently serves as a paraprofessional for the Quaker Valley School District. He has been employed by the school district for 18 years and was as an assistant coach on the 2017 Quaker Valley football team that won WPIAL and PIAA championships.