Eric Gilpin

Eric Gilpin enters his first season at the University of Illinois in 2022-23, where he serves as the director of operations for both the Fighting Illini men’s and women’s golf programs. Gilpin joined the Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics in August of 2022.

Gilpin came to Illinois following a season and a half as an assistant coach with the men’s program at his alma mater Lipscomb beginning in January of 2021. During his time with the Bisons staff, Gilpin was responsible for recruiting, player development, team travel, practice, and tournament preparation.

Prior to his return to Lipscomb, Gilpin spent a year and a half at Southern Illinois from August 2019 through December 2020, first as a graduate assistant before stepping into a new role as the Salukis interim head coach for the final three months of his stint in Carbondale.

Gilpin, who grew up in Bloomington, Ill., competed collegiately at Indian Hills Community College (2015-17) and Winthrop (2017-18) before his senior season at Lipscomb in 2018-19.

He totaled 42 collegiate tournament starts and was a national semifinalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award, given annually to the NJCAA Player of the Year as a sophomore at IHCC after helping the program to an NJCAA national runner-up team finish. Gilpin went on to earn GCAA All-America Scholar honors and tallied four top-15 finishes during his time at Winthrop, and was selected as a team captain while competing in all but one event over the course in his lone season at LU.

Gilpin completed his bachelor's degree in finance from Lipscomb in 2019 and added a master's in sports studies from SIU in 2020.