Vanderbilt basketball, TSU great Teresa Phillips named to Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame's 2023 class
Former Vanderbilt basketball star and longtime Tennessee State coach and athletic director Teresa Phillips was named Wednesday to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame's Class of 2023.
Phillips has now been added to five halls of fame in the last seven years: Vanderbilt Athletics in 2017, Greater Chattanooga and Girls Preparatory School in 2018 and the Ohio Valley Conference in 2021.
"This one was right up there with all the rest, including Vanderbilt when (former) athletics director David Williams called personally to let me know I was going in," Phillips said. "It's really big when you consider all the great people who are in or eligible for the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. I'm sure I'm at the bottom of the pail, but at least I'm in the bucket."
Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame executive director Brad Willis surprised Phillips with the announcement while she was speaking to a class at Belmont about Title IX and the impact it's had 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 a 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 was asked to join the school's first women’s basketball team in 1978. As a senior in 1980, Phillips was awarded the inaugural women’s Athlete of the Year Award and, after graduating, joined Commodores coach Joe Pepper’s staff as an assistant.
She began her head coaching career at Fisk in 1984, where she compiled a career record of 62-38, and was named the coach at TSU in 1989. She led the Tigers to their first OVC regular season and tournament championships and their first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Phillips moved into administration in 2002 as TSU's AD and remained in that position until her 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 is currently serving as the radio analyst of Vanderbilt's women's basketball games.
"Teresa Lawrence Phillips made positive change for sports during every level of her career," Willis said. "From a player, to a coach, to an athletics director, she worked tirelessly to make sports better in every way."
Phillips joins former Tennessee Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck; former Pearl-Cohn, Tennessee Vols and NFL player John Henderson; former Nashville Predators captain Mike Fisher; MTSU baseball legend Steve Smith; former Memphis Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph; former Memphis football linebacker Tim Harris; golfer Loren 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 Tianna Madison in the 2023 class.
The full 2023 class will be released over the coming weeks. The induction ceremony will be 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 originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Teresa Phillips chosen for Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
