Utah Valley College introduced Thursday the hiring of Todd Phillips because the fourth head males’s basketball coach within the Wolverines’ NCAA Division I historical past.
Phillips has spent the final 4 seasons on the Utah Valley employees beneath Mark Madsen, who left the Wolverines final week after accepting the top teaching job at California, serving two years as an assistant coach (2019-21) earlier than being promoted to affiliate head coach in 2021.
Throughout his time at UVU, Phillips has helped lead the Wolverines to 2 Western Athletic Convention regular-season championships (2020-21, 2022-23) and a 70-51 document, together with 48 wins over the past two seasons.
“This place garnered unprecedented nationwide consideration and I imagine it is likely one of the greatest mid-major jobs in school basketball,” UVU Director of Athletics Dr. Jared Sumsion mentioned in a press launch. “Todd has an amazing basketball thoughts [and] understands the sport at its deepest degree. His recruiting community on this area and past is second to none. He has an amazing capability to develop gamers and construct a synergistic staff setting.
“With two WAC championships and a deep NIT run, his observe document at Utah Valley already speaks for itself.”
Phillips helped the Wolverines to their most profitable season ever this previous yr, because the staff went 28-9 total and 15-3 in WAC play. Utah Valley additionally completed the season with a nation-best 12 highway wins. UVU reached the semifinals of the Nationwide Invitation Match (NIT) with wins at New Mexico, at Colorado and in opposition to Cincinnati at dwelling within the quarterfinals. The Wolverines completed the 2022-23 season with a No. 10 rating within the School Insider Mid-Main High-25 ballot.
“Todd Phillips is a confirmed winner who was instrumental in serving to our males’s basketball staff to its greatest season ever,” mentioned Astrid S. Tuminez, president of UVU. “The staff made it to the NIT semifinals for the primary time in program historical past and Todd was an enormous a part of that success. We’re assured that his teaching abilities will proceed to construct on the staff’s profitable custom and can encourage our student-athletes out and in of competitors and within the classroom. We’re honored to have him as our males’s basketball coach.”
“I’m extremely honored and really appreciative of President Tuminez, Jared Sumsion, and the search committee for the chance to be the top coach at Utah Valley,” Phillips mentioned. “I like Utah Valley. I like the group and am excited to construct on the success that now we have already achieved. I wish to construct a legacy right here. We’re going to proceed to win, and we’re going to win championships.”
Phillips spent eight seasons as the top coach at Salt Lake Group School, the place he compiled a 205-58 (.779) total document and an 82-32 mark in Scenic West Athletic Convention play. He led SLCC to a Nationwide Junior School Athletic Affiliation (NJCAA) nationwide title in 2016 because the No. 13 seed within the match. His 2015-16 staff compiled a 31-8 total document and completed the season with 9 straight wins to say the nationwide championship. He was named NJCAA Coach of the Yr after main the Bruins to the title.
Previous to his time as head coach of the Bruins, Phillips served three seasons as an assistant coach at SLCC beneath head coach Norm Parrish. Throughout his time as an assistant coach with SLCC, he helped the Bruins win their first-ever nationwide title in 2009.
Phillips additionally spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Westminster School, starting in 2000. Throughout his time at Westminster, he helped the Griffins to eight 20-plus win seasons, six convention titles and 6 NAIA Nationwide Match berths.
Phillips performed basketball at Snow School in Ephraim and continued his enjoying profession at Lewis-Clark State School from 1997-99. He acquired his bachelor’s diploma in training and kinesiology from Lewis-Clark State and later earned a grasp’s diploma in training administration from the College of Utah.
He and his spouse, Bobbi, are each initially from Boise, Idaho, and have a daughter, Kinzi, and a son, Zach.
Phillips might be formally launched at a press convention subsequent week.