Hall of Fame
Phillips served Tennessee State University for 31 years as women’s basketball coach, administrator and Director of Athletics. At the helm of the Lady Tigers basketball program (1989-2000), she guided the team to back-to-back OVC regular season and tournament championships in 1993-94 and 1994-95 and was twice named OVC Coach of the Year. The 1993-94 squad won the OVC regular season and tournament crown and made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Overall she won 144 games as head coach.
Following the 1999-00 season, she transitioned into the role of Associate Athletics Director, then interim A.D. before being hired as the full-time Director of Athletics in April 2002. During her tenure of A.D., Tennessee State won 12 OVC Championships - five indoor track and field championships, three outdoor track and field championships, two volleyball titles and one women’s basketball championship.
During her tenure TSU launched its the first official website for TSU, posted a stellar graduation rate for student-athletes and oversaw the construction of the Indoor Practice Facility as well as other athletic facility and office upgrades. She also had the distinction of being the first woman ever to coach an NCAA Division I men's basketball team en route to being named one of the 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports by Sports Illustrated in 2003. During the 2014 Women’s Final Four, she was named as a one of 10 Legends in Women’s Basketball in Tennessee.
Phillips, the first African-American female student-athlete at Vanderbilt who would go on to win the Lady Commodore Athlete of the Year honor, was also recognized as the Second Most Influential Woman in Sports in Tennessee by The Tennessean newspaper. She announced her retirement in October 2019 and stepped away from her duties in June 2020.