Vanderbilt basketball, TSU great Teresa Phillips named to 2023 class of Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
Former Vanderbilt basketball star and longtime Tennessee State coach and athletic director Teresa Phillips was named to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 on Wednesday.
Phillips has now been inducted into five Halls of Fame in the past seven years: Vanderbilt Athletics in 2017, Greater Chattanooga and Girls’ Preparatory School in 2018 and the Ohio Valley Conference in 2021.
Phillips said, “It was right there with everyone else, including Vanderbilt, when (former) athletics director David Williams personally called to tell me I was going in.” “It’s really big when you consider all the greats that are in or eligible for the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. I’m sure I’m under the bucket, but at least I’m in the bucket.”
Brad Willis, executive director of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, surprised Phillips with the announcement while she was speaking to a class in Belmont about Title IX and its impact on women’s sports.
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Phillips was part of that history when she became the first woman to coach an NCAA men’s basketball game in 2003. She was TSU’s athletic director at the time and filled in as interim coach for the game against Austin Peay.
Phillips was the second black student to attend Girls’ Preparatory School and the first black player on the basketball team.
She attended Vanderbilt on an academic scholarship in 1976 and in 1978 was asked to join the school’s first women’s basketball team. Staff as assistant.
He began his head coaching career at Fisk in 1984, where he compiled a career record of 62–38, and was named head coach at TSU in 1989. He led the Tigers to their first OVC regular season and tournament championships and their first NCAA Tournament. Presence.
Phillips moved into administration as TSU’s AD in 2002 and remained in that position until his retirement in 2020.
In 2003, Sports Illustrated named Phillips one of the 101 most influential minorities in sports.
In 2014, during the NCAA Women’s Final Four at Bridgestone Arena, Phillips was named one of “10 Legends in Women’s Basketball in Tennessee” by The Tennessean.
Phillips currently serves as a radio analyst for Vanderbilt women’s basketball games.
“Teresa Lawrence Phillips made a positive difference to sports at every stage of her career,” Willis said. “From a player, to a coach, to an athletics director, he worked tirelessly to improve the game in every way.”
Phillips joins former Tennessee Titans linebacker Keith Bullock; former Pearl-Con, Tennessee Vols and NFL player John Henderson; Mike Fisher, former captain of the Nashville Predators; MTSU baseball legend Steve Smith; former Memphis Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph; former Memphis football linebacker Tim Harris; golfer Lorraine Roberts; Bristol Motor Speedway co-founder Carl R. Moore; ETSU basketball coach and athletic director Les Robinson; And Tennessee Lady Vols track star and Olympic gold medalist Tiana Madison in the Class of 2023.
The full Class of 2023 will be released in the coming weeks. The induction ceremony will take place on July 22 at the Omni Nashville Downtown. Ticket information will be announced at a later date.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article was originally published as The Nashville Tennessean: Teresa Phillips elected to Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
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