Phil Sellers facts for kids

Phillip Sellers Jr. (born November 20, 1953 – died September 20, 2023) was a talented American basketball player. He played professionally for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Early Life and College Basketball

Phil Sellers was born in Brooklyn, New York. He played high school basketball at Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn. He was very successful in high school. He won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award at Pittsburgh's Dapper Dan Tournament. This tournament featured the best high school players in the country. Phil also earned Third-Team Parade All-American honors. He received more than 200 scholarship offers from colleges to play basketball.

Sellers first planned to play at Notre Dame. However, he decided to attend Livingston College in New Jersey instead. Livingston College was part of Rutgers University. It was designed to help students from lower-income backgrounds.

Playing for Rutgers University

At Rutgers, Phil Sellers played for assistant coach Dick Vitale. Vitale later became a famous college basketball announcer. Many people were surprised by Sellers' choice. Rutgers was a small, less-known basketball program at the time.

However, Sellers quickly found success. In his first year, he averaged 19.5 points per game. He helped Rutgers reach the 1973 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). In his second season, he averaged 23.2 points per game. Rutgers made another NIT appearance.

In the 1974-75 season, Rutgers continued to win. They finished with a 22-7 record. This led to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. They lost their first game to Louisville 91-78. Sellers scored 29 points in that game.

Reaching the Final Four

The 1975-76 season was a huge step for Rutgers. Sellers was a senior and a Consensus Second Team All-American. He led the team to an amazing 31–0 start. He averaged a double-double (19.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game). A double-double means getting double-digit numbers in two different stats, like points and rebounds.

The Scarlet Knights advanced far in the NCAA Tournament. They won games against Princeton (54-53), Connecticut (93-79), and VMI (91-75). This brought them to the Final Four.

The team finished the season with a 31–2 record. Their only two losses were in the national semifinals. They lost 86-70 to Michigan. Then they lost the third-place game to UCLA 106-92.

Phil Sellers graduated from Rutgers in 1976. He is still the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,399 points. He is also their all-time leading rebounder with 1,115 rebounds. On January 16, 1988, Rutgers retired his jersey number (#12). He is one of only three Rutgers players to have this honor.

Professional Basketball Career

After college, Phil Sellers was chosen in the third round of the 1976 NBA draft. He was the 38th player picked overall by the Detroit Pistons. Sellers was 6 feet 4 inches tall. In college, he played as a forward. But in the NBA, he had to switch to playing guard. This meant he needed to handle the ball more.

Sellers found this change difficult. He said, "I couldn't play guard. They had doubts. Even me, I had doubts." He played one season with Detroit. He averaged 4.5 points per game in 44 games. He was released from the team before the next season.

After leaving the Pistons, Sellers played for other teams. He played for the Jersey Shore Bullets in the Continental Basketball Association. He also played for BV Amstelveen in the Netherlands. In 1979, he tried out for the Pistons again. His former college coach, Dick Vitale, was coaching the Pistons then. But Sellers was cut from the team before the season started.

Later Life and Legacy

Phil Sellers returned to Rutgers University as an assistant coach. He coached there for four years in the 1980s. After that, he worked in other jobs outside of basketball.

Sellers was honored for his basketball achievements. He was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. He also joined the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.

Dr. Edward J. Bloustein, a former Rutgers President, spoke highly of Sellers. He said that Phil "epitomized and symbolized... a movement at Rutgers toward quality and self-assurance." He added that Sellers "helped instill a sense of confidence in the university that persists today."

Phil Sellers passed away from a stroke on September 20, 2023. He was 69 years old.

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds