Saul Phillips (basketball)
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 | 36–6 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 11, 1972 Reedsburg, Wisconsin |
| 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 (dir. operations) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 251–166 (.602) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 Summit League Tournament (2009, 2014) 2 Summit League Regular Season (2009, 2014) NSIC Regular Season (2020) NSIC Tournament (2020) NSIC North Division (2020) | |
| Awards | |
| 2× Summit League Coach of the Year (2009, 2014) | |
Coaching career
North Dakota State University
Phillips 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
On April 6, 2014 Phillips agreed to become the 18th head coach of the Ohio Bobcats.[5]
On March 13, 2019, Phillips' contract was not renewed by Ohio after 5 seasons.[6]
Northern State University
On June 11, 2019, Phillips was named the head men's basketball coach at Northern State following the departure of Paul Sather [7] 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
| 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 | |||||
| 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 | 10–0 | 8–0 | ||||||
| Northern State: | 36–6 (.857) | 26–4 (.867) | |||||||
| Total: | 251–166 (.602) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
House Hunters
Season 185, episode 7 of HGTV's show House Hunters featured Saul as he and his wife search for a home in Aberdeen, South Dakota.[8]
References
- http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/careercoach
- http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040614aaa.html
- http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?id=400546923
- http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?id=400548509
- http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040614aaa.html
- "Ohio Athletics Announces Change In Men's Basketball Leadership" (Press release). Ohio Bobcats. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- https://www.aberdeennews.com/sports/college/nsu/saul-phillips-named-northern-basketball-coach/article_a205aeb1-9f54-5ff5-9cb9-4eb28497498c.html
- "Winning in Aberdeen". Retrieved March 18, 2020.