Quick Facts
Biography
Chris Gerlufsen is an American college basketball coach currently serving as an assistant coach for the University of Hawaii. He served as the acting head coach for Hawaii in their 2019–20 season while head coach Eran Ganot took a leave of medical absence, compiling an 8–5 record during that period.
Early life and college
Gerlufsen is a native of Philadelphia, and the son of former University of Massachusetts head coach Ron Gerlufsen. As a kid, he was on high school and summer league teams that had often faced off against NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
Gerlufsen played at Randolph–Macon College in Ashland, Virginia where he was a guard and a captain on teams that made the NCAA Division III tournament twice. Gerlufsen graduated from Randolph–Macon with a degree in business and economics in 1998.
Coaching career
Early coaching career
Gerlufsen began his coaching career at Washington College in Maryland as a graduate assistant in 1998, before spending a season at Southwestern. He joined The Citadel in 2000, where he was a graduate assistant for a year before joining the staff full-time in 2001. He was promoted to lead assistant before the start of the 2003–04 season. He left after the 2005–06 season to join the coaching staff at Hartford.
Hartford (2006–15)
Gerlufsen spent 7 years as an assistant coach at Hartford before being promoted to associate head coach at the start of the 2013–14 season. He also served as the team's recruiting coordinator during his tenure there.
San Diego (2015–19)
On April 28, 2015, it was announced that Gerlufsen would be joining the University of San Diego's men's basketball program as an assistant coach. He spent four seasons there, three as an assistant on Lamont Smith's staff, and one year as an assistant on Sam Scholl's staff, where he was instrumental in turning a 9 win team into a 21 win team. Gerlufsen left after the 2018–19 season to join the coaching staff at Hawaii.
Hawaii (2019–present)
Gerlufsen was introduced as the new assistant coach for Hawaii on September 3rd, 2019, serving as the team's lead assistant and de facto offensive coordinator.On November 6, he was named acting head coach after head coach Eran Ganot took a medical leave of absence. He compiled an 8–5 record as acting head coach, relinquishing head coaching duties on December 28 when Ganot returned from medical leave.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (Big West Conference) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | Hawaii | 8–5 | 0–0 | ✝ (acting) | |||||
| Hawaii: | 8–5 (.615) | ||||||||
| Total: | 8–5 (.615) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
✝ Gerlufsen served as acting head coach from November 6, 2019 to December 28, 2019 due to head coach Eran Ganot's medical leave of absence.