Chris Tifft - Assistant Coach - Men's Basketball Coaches

Photo by: Heidi Eligio

Chris Tifft

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
chris.tifft@csun.edu
Phone:
6251

Chris Tifft enters his second season as an assistant coach to the CSUN Men's Basketball team in 2022-23.

Tifft possesses over two decades of experience coaching at the collegiate ranks. During his time on the sidelines, Tifft has coached in the Big West Conference, Western Athletic Conference, Big 12 Conference and Atlantic 10 Conference while he has also served as a head coach for eight seasons at the junior college level.

Tifft's experience with head coach Trent Johnson traces back to their time with the University of Nevada beginning in 1999. He would reunite with coach Johnson at TCU where Tifft worked in multiple roles.

In Tifft's first season with the Matadors in 2021-22, he helped coach the team to the No. 8 seed in the Big West Tournament, two spots higher than the team was projected to finish to start the season. Despite dealing with a multitude of injuries, CSUN finished second in the Big West in steals per game (7.2) while guard Atin Wright earned All-Big West Honorable Mention accolades. Tifft also served as acting head coach for two games during the season.

Before joining the Matadors, Tifft spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Central Michigan University under Keno Davis. In his first season on the sidelines, the Chippewas ranked first in the Mid-American Conference and 21st nationally in scoring (78.6 points per game) and ninth in the nation in steals per game (9.1).

Tifft served as the special assistant to Saint Louis University head coach Travis Ford from 2016-19 where he helped the program capture the Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship and earn an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019. Tifft previously worked on coach Johnson's coaching staff at TCU from 2012-16 including the final two years as an assistant coach.

Tifft also spent 11 seasons coaching at the junior college ranks including head coaching stints at Lamar Community College (2004-09) and New Mexico Junior College (2009-12). He posted a 158-94 head coaching record at the junior college level. With Lamar, Tifft won the NJCAA District 9 Division I Coach of the Year award and led the program to its first NJCAA National Tournament appearance. He also spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Dodge Community College (2001-04) where he coached and recruited eight all-conference players.

Tifft began his coaching career at the University of Nevada where he stayed for five years (1996-01) and worked under Johnson for two seasons.

He played college basketball at Three Rivers Community College from 1992-94 before finishing up his collegiate career at Nevada (1994-96). He earned a degree in geography and a master of education in secondary education from Nevada.