James Giacomazzi

James Giacomazzi enters his eighth season as the head men’s basketball coach at Las Positas College and 24th season overall of coaching California community college basketball. He brings a wealth of experience and success to the program and has quickly built the men’s basketball team into a JUCO state power.

As a head coach, Giacomazzi has won 348 games in his career, with a record of 146-61 at Las Positas, good for a win percentage of .705. Las Positas has become a perennial playoff contender and developed a strong reputation for transferring players on to the four-year level, with 21 players transferring on scholarship since the 2015-16 season, including three at the NCAA Division I level. Las Positas has qualified for the playoffs and had an All-State player selection in every season since Giacomazzi arrived.

Most recently, the 2022-23 Hawks finished the season with 19 victories and made it to the “Sweet 16” for the 4^th time in 7 years at LPC. In the last fourteen years, Coach James’ teams have made the playoffs thirteen times, the “Sweet 16” 9 times, and the Elite 8 twice.

In 2021-2022, Giacomazzi took Las Positas to a record-breaking year. They logged the most overall wins (27), most conference wins (12) in school history to go with a 16 game-winning streak, another school record, before earning the #5 seed in Northern California for the CCCAA State playoffs. The 2021-22 team posted its best overall record at 27-4 while also advancing to the CCCAA “Elite 8.” The Hawks were ranked in the top 10 in the state of California throughout the year and closed the season ranked No. 4 in the state.


Before being hired at Las Positas, Giacomazzi was the head coach at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento for 11 years. During his tenure at Cosumnes, Giacomazzi's teams won two Big 8 Conference titles, reached the postseason six times, and made five appearances in the CCCAA Sweet 16.

After his first full recruiting year, Giacomazzi averaged 20 wins per season over 10 years. In his final year at CRC (2014-­15), he led the team to a 24­-7 overall record with a 12­-2 conference mark en route to winning the Big 8 championship, widely considered one of the most competitive conferences in California.

He was named the Big 8 Coach of the Year twice (2009-10, 2014-15). His 202 career victories at the school put him near the top of the record book at CRC for head coaching wins.

Giacomazzi has a long track record of graduating players and helping them earn scholarships at the next level. He has coached 12 First Team All-State players and 36 First Team All-Conference players at Las Positas and Cosumnes River. Including his six years as an assistant coach at San Jose City College (four of which he also served as the team's athletic advisor), 80 of Giacomazzi's players transferred to four-year colleges with scholarships (21 Division I, 59 Division II/III/NAIA) while 12 of his players went on to play professionally.

In the classroom, over 90 percent of Coach Giacomazzi’s players who exhausted their eligibility at Cosumnes River and Las Positas graduated/transferred and moved on to four­-year institutions on scholarship, while 18 of his players were named Academic All-Americans.

Prior to his work at CRC, Giacomazzi served as an assistant coach at San Jose City College under Hall of Fame head coach Percy Carr for six years. Giacomazzi assisted in recruiting and coaching a team that finished 29-­5 and had the longest winning streak in the nation with 24 consecutive victories in 1999-­00. The following year, he helped guide the 2000-­01 team to a 32-­6 record and to the televised state championship game on Fox Sports. Both teams went undefeated in league play during those two seasons, finishing 24­-0, and won two conference championships. During Giacomazzi’s six­-year tenure at SJCC, 26 out of 29 (90%) student­-athletes graduated and received scholarships at various four­-year universities across the country.

As a player, Giacomazzi enjoyed a successful career at UC Riverside, earning all-­conference honors his senior year. Prior to playing for the Highlanders, Giacomazzi played for Coach Carr at San Jose City College, where his teams compiled a two-­year record of 57-12. He also helped lead the Jaguars to two Golden Gate Conference titles. At the high school level, Giacomazzi played for head coach Guin Boggs at Washington High in Fremont.

Coach Giacomazzi graduated from UC Riverside in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with an emphasis in political science and history. In 2001, Giacomazzi received his master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in human performance and sports management from San Jose State University.

Coach Giacomazzi is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches Association (CCCMBCA). In addition to his teaching duties in the kinesiology department, he also serves as the CCCMBCA Past-President, and Athletic Director at Las Positas.

He currently resides in Livermore with his wife Kristi, their daughters Addison (13) and Devyn (10), and their dog, Snickers.