After playing, he went on to coach basketball at several major American universities and traveled the world teaching the game.

Ripley began his first professional coaching tenure with Wagner College in 1922, before moving into a position at Georgetown University in 1927.

During his many years with the Georgetown, he achieved a 133–82 record and lead the Hoyas to the NCAA tournament in 1943, reaching the national championship game.

In 1965–66, while coaching at Englewood, Ripley was hired by the New York Knicks to teach their center, future Hall of Famer Willis Reed, how to play the power forward position when the Knicks acquired a second center, future Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy, for their team.

Ripley continued to coach through his 80th birthday and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1973.