The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team will host the inaugural Teresa Phillips Thanksgiving Classic, Nov. 29-30, in the Gentry Center.
The tournament, which is named after TSU Director of Athletics and former head women’s basketball coach Teresa L. Phillips, will feature four teams from across the country, including Youngstown State, Nicholls State, Norfolk State and host TSU.
“We thought the Thanksgiving classic would be a great opportunity to give recognition to Coach Phillips,” said TSU head women’s basketball coach Larry Inman. “Not only was she a great basketball coach but she continues to be a proven leader in college athletics. It is an attribute to all her years of service to Tennessee State University.”
Teresa Phillips was head coach of the Lady Tiger basketball program at TSU for 11 seasons from 1989-2000. The three-time OVC Coach of the Year recorded 144 total wins while at the helm of the women’s basketball program.
She guided the 1993-94 team to the program’s first-ever Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship, the OVC tournament title and TSU’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Phillips and her staff enjoyed another successful season in 1994-95 as the Lady Tigers (22-7, 12-4 OVC) claimed the regular season championship while earning its second consecutive tournament title and a trip to the NCAA tournament.
Phillips garnered national attention when she became the first woman to coach a Division I NCAA men’s basketball team in 2003. She is also an inaugural member of the Girls’ Preparatory School Sports Hall of Fame and a 2008 inductee of the Lookout Mountain Sports Hall of Fame.
Recently, the Ohio Valley Conference named Phillips one of the league’s most influential women in its celebration of the 40th anniversary of Title IX. Just last year Phillips was featured on the Tennessean’s Legendary Ladies Elite 8 list in conjunction with the 2014 Final Four.
All contests of the Teresa Phillips Thanksgiving Classic will be played in the Gentry Center located on TSU’s main campus. For ticket information call (615) 963-ROAR.
