Saul Edward Phillips (born October 10, 1972[1]) is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the head coach of the Northern State Wolves men's basketball team. Phillips is a graduate of University of Wisconsin–Platteville.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Northern State |
| Conference | NSIC |
| Record | 92–35 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 11, 1972 Reedsburg, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1991–1995 | Wisconsin–Platteville |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1996–1997 | Wayne State (NE) (assistant) |
| 1997–1999 | Lake Superior State (assistant) |
| 1999–2001 | Milwaukee (assistant) |
| 2004–2007 | North Dakota State (assistant) |
| 2007–2014 | North Dakota State |
| 2014–2019 | Ohio |
| 2019–present | Northern State |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2001–2004 | Wisconsin (DBO) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 307–195 (.612) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 Summit League tournament (2009, 2014) 2 Summit League regular season (2009, 2014) 2 NSIC regular season (2020, 2023) 2 NSIC tournament (2020, 2021) 3 NSIC North Division (2020, 2021, 2023) | |
| Awards | |
| 2× Summit League Coach of the Year (2009, 2014) NSIC North Division Coach of the Year (2021) NSIC Coach of the Year (2023) | |
Coaching career
editNorth Dakota State University
editPhillips got his start at NDSU as an assistant coach under Tim Miles in 2004. When Miles left the school to coach Colorado State in 2007, Phillips was promoted to head coach.[2]
In 2009 Phillips led the North Dakota State Bison to win the Summit League tournament championship and became the first team since Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana–Lafayette) in 1972 to advance to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in their first year of eligibility. On January 17, 2013; Saul Phillips notched his 100th win with the Bison.
Phillips reached the NCAA tournament once again in 2014 after winning the Summit League tournament. Seeded 12th in the NCAA Tournament, the Bison upset 5th seeded Oklahoma in the second round 80–75,[3] then lost to 4th seeded San Diego State 44-63[4] in the third round. He is currently 4th on the all-time wins list in NDSU men's basketball history.
Ohio University
editOn April 6, 2014, Phillips agreed to become the 18th head coach of the Ohio Bobcats.[5] The 2014–15 Bobcats finished with a 10–20 overall record and only 5 wins in the MAC in spite of the presence of future NBA player Maurice Ndour. In 2015–16 the Bobcats went 23–12 and 11–7 MAC Conference record giving them the #2 seed in the 2016 MAC tournament. Junior Antonio Campbell was named the 2016 MAC Player of the Year after averaging a double-double throughout the season.[6][7] The Bobcats lost to Buffalo in the semifinal game of the MAC Tournament 74–88.[8] Ohio accepted an invitation to the 2016 College Basketball Invitational. They reached the semifinals but lost to Morehead State.[9] His 2016–17 went 20–10 overall and 11–7 in the MAC which was good for second place.
His last two seasons at Ohio were plagued by player injuries and resulted in 14-17 records both seasons. On March 13, 2019, Phillips' contract was not renewed by Ohio after 5 seasons.[10] One of his successes at Ohio turned out to be offering Jason Preston, who was unrecruited out of high school, a scholarship. Preston was later selected in the 2021 NBA draft.[11]
Northern State University
editOn June 11, 2019, Phillips was named the head men's basketball coach at Northern State following the departure of Paul Sather[12] In his first season, the Wolves won the NSIC regular season championship and the NSIC tournament championship. However, the postseason was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State Bison (The Summit League) (2007–2014) | |||||||||
| 2007–08 | North Dakota State | 16–13 | 10–8 | 4th | |||||
| 2008–09 | North Dakota State | 26–7 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA round of 64 | ||||
| 2009–10 | North Dakota State | 11–18 | 8–10 | 6th | |||||
| 2010–11 | North Dakota State | 14–15 | 8–10 | 7th | |||||
| 2011–12 | North Dakota State | 17–14 | 9–9 | 3rd | CBI first round | ||||
| 2012–13 | North Dakota State | 24–10 | 12–4 | 3rd | CBI first round | ||||
| 2013–14 | North Dakota State | 26–6 | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA round of 32 | ||||
| North Dakota State: | 134–83 (.615) | 75–45 (.625) | |||||||
| Ohio Bobcats (Mid-American Conference) (2014–2019) | |||||||||
| 2014–15 | Ohio | 10–20 | 5–13 | 6th (East) | |||||
| 2015–16 | Ohio | 23–12 | 11–7 | 2nd (East) | CBI semifinals | ||||
| 2016–17 | Ohio | 20–11 | 11–7 | 2nd (East) | |||||
| 2017–18 | Ohio | 14–17 | 7–11 | T–4th (East) | |||||
| 2018–19 | Ohio | 14–17 | 6–12 | 6th (East) | |||||
| Ohio: | 81–77 (.513) | 40–50 (.444) | |||||||
| Northern State (NSIC) (2019–present) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | Northern State | 26–6 | 18–4 | 1st | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| 2020–21 | Northern State | 19–2 | 13–1 | 1st** | 2021 NCAA DII Regional Finals | ||||
| 2021–22 | Northern State | 19–11 | 13–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2022–23 | Northern State | 24–7 | 19–3 | 1st | 2023 NCAA DII First Round | ||||
| 2023–24 | Northern State | 10–19 | 8–14 | T-11th | |||||
| 2024–25 | Northern State | 0–3 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Northern State: | 92–35 (.724) | 66–20 (.767) | |||||||
| Total: | 307–195 (.612) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
**-During the 2020-21 season, only a North and South Division winner were awarded, no overall conference championship was given due to COVID-19
House Hunters
editSeason 185, episode 7 of HGTV's show House Hunters featured Saul as he and his wife search for a home in Aberdeen, South Dakota.[13]
References
edit- ^ "NCAA® Career Statistics".
- ^ "Saul Phillips Named Ohio Men's Basketball Head Coach - OHIOBOBCATS.COM - Ohio Official Athletic Site". www.ohiobobcats.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07.
- ^ "North Dakota State vs. Oklahoma - Game Recap - March 20, 2014 - ESPN".
- ^ "North Dakota State vs. San Diego State - Game Recap - March 22, 2014 - ESPN".
- ^ "Saul Phillips Named Ohio Men's Basketball Head Coach - OHIOBOBCATS.COM - Ohio Official Athletic Site". www.ohiobobcats.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07.
- ^ "Antonio Campbell Profile". ESPN.
- ^ "Junior Forward Becomes Ninth Bobcat to Earn League's Highest Honor". ohiobobcats.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016.
- ^ "Buffalo beats Ohio 88-74 to return to MAC title game". ESPN.
- ^ "CBI Semifinals Summary". ESPN.
- ^ "Ohio Athletics Announces Change In Men's Basketball Leadership" (Press release). Ohio Bobcats. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ Mirjam, Swanson (July 30, 2021). "Clippers eager to bet on Ohio's Jason Preston". The Orange County Register.
- ^ "Saul Phillips named Northern basketball coach".
- ^ "Winning in Aberdeen". Retrieved March 18, 2020.