Teresa Phillips facts for kids

Teresa Lawrence Phillips (born 1958) was a very important person in college sports. She was the athletic director at Tennessee State University (TSU) for many years, starting in 2001. Being an athletic director means she was in charge of all the sports teams at the university. She was one of the few women to hold this job at a school that also had a football team. Phillips also coached women's basketball at TSU and Fisk University. In 2003, she made history by coaching the TSU men's basketball team for one game. This made her the first woman to coach a Division I men's basketball team.

Her Journey in Sports

Early Life and College Years

Born in Chattanooga, Phillips, then Teresa Lawrence, went to Vanderbilt University. She received a scholarship for her studies. She played center on the school's club women's basketball team. In her second year, 1977–78, Vanderbilt made women's basketball an official college sport. Phillips was part of this team, becoming Vanderbilt's first black female athlete.

Phillips started as a center in her second and third years. Even when more scholarship players joined, she was still a star. She was named Lady Commodore Athlete of the Year in 1980. She also won the Nashville Civitans' Sportsmanship Award in both 1979 and 1980.

Becoming a Coach and Athletic Director

Phillips graduated in 1980. She was working as an insurance broker when her former coach asked her to return to Vanderbilt. She worked as a part-time assistant coach from 1981 to 1984. During this time, her team won the National Women's Invitational Tournament in 1984.

In 1984, she became the head coach at Division III Fisk University in Nashville. She led the team to a great record of 62 wins and 38 losses over five years. Her teams won two Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles.

She moved to nearby TSU in 1989. She took over a team that had only won eight games in three years. Phillips turned the team around, winning 150 games and losing 151 in 11 years. Her teams won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season tournament titles in 1994 and 1995. She also served as interim athletic director two times while still coaching. In June 2001, she was named interim athletic director for a third time. In 2002, she officially became the athletic director.

A Woman Coaching a Men's Basketball Team

In December 2002, the men's basketball coach at TSU had an incident with an assistant coach. Phillips suspended the head coach and named the assistant coach as interim. The head coach later resigned.

In February 2003, TSU and Eastern Kentucky played a game where many players were ejected. Because of conference rules, the interim coach had to miss the next game. Instead of having a young assistant coach lead the team, Phillips decided to coach the team herself for one game. This made her the first woman to coach a Division I men's basketball team.

The Tigers lost that game against Austin Peay with a score of 71–56. Even though Phillips saw this as a difficult moment, Sports Illustrated recognized her. They named her one of the "101 Most Influential Minorities In Sports" for 2003.