USA Volleyball Hall of Fame Set To Welcome Alan Knipe As All-Time Great Coach
2/14/2024 10:25:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Long Beach State Head Coach Alan Knipe will receive the Donald S. Shondell All-Time Great Coach Award at the 2024 Hall of Fame annual banquet on May 22
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Volleyball announced that Long Beach State's Alan Knipe will be recognized as an All-Time Great Coach at the 2024 Hall of Fame annual banquet and ceremony on May 22 at the Hilton Polaris in Columbus, Ohio where Knipe will receive the Donald S. Shondell All-Time Great Coach Award.
"It's an absolute honor to receive this award," said Knipe. "It caught me completely by surprise. It was also really meaningful, for me, to get the call from Doug Beal. He was a three-time Olympic Coach himself and the president of USA Volleyball when I was the head coach. He's had a huge impact on volleyball world-wide, and he's had a huge impact on my coaching career, probably significantly bigger than he even knows. It's a tremendous honor and I'm very humbled by the whole thing."
Knipe is in his 21st season at the helm of his alma mater and is the winningest coach in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history as he has accumulated 402 career victories and owns a .708 winning percentage. He has created a culture of greatness at the Beach leading Long Beach State to 11 NCAA Final Four Appearances, and has guided his program to two NCAA National Championships in 2018 and 2019.
A three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, Knipe has coached 70 All-American selections and half a dozen National Players of the Year in Tyler Hildebrand (2006), Paul Lotman (2008), Taylor Crabb (2008), TJ DeFalco (2007, 2019), Josh Tuaniga (2018), and Alex Nikolov (2022).
Knipe took a brief hiatus from the Beach when he coached the U.S. Men's National Team from 2009-12 where he led the team to a 2012 World League Silver Medal. His squad also won the 2012 NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament. At the London Olympic Games, Knipe's team won its pool and advanced to the quarterfinals.
"Any time you get an award like this there is a large breadth of work that went into it and a lot of sacrifice. And when I say sacrifice, I don't just mean me. I mean the coaches that are coaching with you, the players who have played for you, the administrators who have supported you, and most importantly, for me, my family," said Knipe. "A huge thank you to my wife, Jennifer, for being amazing as a coach's wife – which is a whole unique club to be part of – and to my sons, Aidan and Evan."
The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place one day before the 2024 USA Volleyball Open National Championship starts at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The proceeds from the event will go to the USA Volleyball Foundation to provide funding to support the Olympic and Paralympic dreams of the athletes in USA Volleyball's national team programs.
The All-Time Great Coach Award recognizes coaches with a minimum of 10 years of coaching experience; the ability to develop consistently successful teams, as demonstrated by performances at the state, regional, national and/or international levels; a demonstrated ability to train athletes to their highest potential, and the ability to respond in a professional manner to the successes, pressures, and disappointments of competition.
The coach must also have shared their abilities and knowledge to education peers.
"It's an absolute honor to receive this award," said Knipe. "It caught me completely by surprise. It was also really meaningful, for me, to get the call from Doug Beal. He was a three-time Olympic Coach himself and the president of USA Volleyball when I was the head coach. He's had a huge impact on volleyball world-wide, and he's had a huge impact on my coaching career, probably significantly bigger than he even knows. It's a tremendous honor and I'm very humbled by the whole thing."
Knipe is in his 21st season at the helm of his alma mater and is the winningest coach in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history as he has accumulated 402 career victories and owns a .708 winning percentage. He has created a culture of greatness at the Beach leading Long Beach State to 11 NCAA Final Four Appearances, and has guided his program to two NCAA National Championships in 2018 and 2019.
A three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, Knipe has coached 70 All-American selections and half a dozen National Players of the Year in Tyler Hildebrand (2006), Paul Lotman (2008), Taylor Crabb (2008), TJ DeFalco (2007, 2019), Josh Tuaniga (2018), and Alex Nikolov (2022).
Knipe took a brief hiatus from the Beach when he coached the U.S. Men's National Team from 2009-12 where he led the team to a 2012 World League Silver Medal. His squad also won the 2012 NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament. At the London Olympic Games, Knipe's team won its pool and advanced to the quarterfinals.
"Any time you get an award like this there is a large breadth of work that went into it and a lot of sacrifice. And when I say sacrifice, I don't just mean me. I mean the coaches that are coaching with you, the players who have played for you, the administrators who have supported you, and most importantly, for me, my family," said Knipe. "A huge thank you to my wife, Jennifer, for being amazing as a coach's wife – which is a whole unique club to be part of – and to my sons, Aidan and Evan."
The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place one day before the 2024 USA Volleyball Open National Championship starts at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The proceeds from the event will go to the USA Volleyball Foundation to provide funding to support the Olympic and Paralympic dreams of the athletes in USA Volleyball's national team programs.
The All-Time Great Coach Award recognizes coaches with a minimum of 10 years of coaching experience; the ability to develop consistently successful teams, as demonstrated by performances at the state, regional, national and/or international levels; a demonstrated ability to train athletes to their highest potential, and the ability to respond in a professional manner to the successes, pressures, and disappointments of competition.
The coach must also have shared their abilities and knowledge to education peers.
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