LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall community was saddened to learn of the passing of former men's tennis coach Jim Phipps. A nationally recognized physical education teacher and tennis coach, Phipps led the Diplomats from 1992-2000.

Phipps guided Franklin & Marshall to a Middle Atlantic Conference Southwest Division title with an undefeated conference record during his first season as head coach of the men's team. Under his leadership, F&M began its era in the Centennial Conference where Phipps won 75 percent of his conference matches and led the team to the NCAA Tournament during the 1996-97 season.

His 86 career coaching victories with the Diplomats are the fourth-most in program history. He mentored 16 All-Centennial Conference selections, coached one Centennial Conference Player of the Year, and had three scholar-athletes recognized as academic All-Americans.

In addition to his impact of the Diplomats' men's tennis team, Phipps spent 28 years at Lancaster Country Day School and was inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame in 2024. He also received a Novo Nordisk Donnelly Scholarship coach award during the 2025 U.S. Open tennis tournament.

Friends and coworkers remember Phipps as a caring teacher who loved his day-to-day interactions with everyone he came into contact with. He also had a talent for music and would play the play harmonica and sing blues. Even after taking the job at Lancaster Country Day, Phipps constantly stayed in touched with people who he came across while building life-long relationships.