Phillip Michael McDonald (born July 25, 1989) is an American professional basketball player. He began his college career playing for the

New Mexico Lobos men's basketball The New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team represents the University of New Mexico, competing in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) in NCAA Division I. The university established basketball as a varsity sport in 1899 and began competing with reg ...

team. Born in

Cypress, Texas Cypress is an unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas, United States, located completely inside the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Houston. The Cypress area is located along U.S. Highway 290 (Northwest Freeway) is twenty-fo ...

, McDonald was the starting

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

for the Lobos the first three years he has played, and provided experience and depth off the bench for the Lobos his senior year.

High school

McDonald attended

Cypress Springs High School Cypress Springs High School, CSHS, or more commonly as Cy-Springs is located at 7909 Fry Road, in Cypress, an unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas. Cypress Springs High School was established in 1997, making it the sixth high scho ...

, and garnered a number of accolades during his four-year career. During his senior year for the Panthers, McDonald led Cypress Springs to a 32–7 record while averaging 19 points en route to being named the 17-5A District Most Valuable Player. Through his recruiting process, McDonald was rated a four-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, and was ranked the 20th and 19th best shooting guard in the nation, respectively. ESPN pegged McDonald as the tenth best shooting guard nationally, enough to gain a 96 rating (out of 100) and a place in the ESPNU 100. After McDonald signed in late 2007, Rivals.com named McDonald the top shooting guard signee in the Mountain West Conference.

College

Freshman Year, 2008-2009

On September 12, 2007, McDonald signed with

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...

's New Mexico Lobos basketball team, beating out other schools like

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. McDonald was the starting shooting guard, and posted the most starts by a Lobos freshman since Rob Robbins started 36 in 1987–1988. He posted double-digit scoring eleven times, including a

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in
win
against Grambling St. and a pair of seventeen-point performances agains
Texas Tech
an
San Diego State

Sophomore Year, 2009-2010

Building off a solid freshman campaign, McDonald increased his production and impact as the Lobos marched into the Top 25. McDonald ranked sixth in the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

in three-point shooting through the entire year, and fourth in the conference during conference play. McDonald's premier sophomore games included posting a career high in points (27) in
97-87 win
over in-state rival New Mexico State, a 15-point performance in
86-78 win
over 25th-ranked Cal, and a 25-point outburst in
73-50 victory
over Air Force. At season's end, McDonald's work was rewarded, as he was named Honorable Mention All-Mountain West.

Junior Year, 2010-2011

Still poised to be a big part of the Lobos moving into the 2010–2011 season, McDonald was forced to miss the first three games of the season after suffering an elbow injury in an exhibition game to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. While it slightly hindered him, McDonald still soldiered through the season. In
game
versus New Mexico State, McDonald pulled down his second career

, notching 18 points to go with 10 boards. In
contest
against Colorado State, McDonald tied a career high in points, as he tallied 27 points off the bench. Later in the season, McDonald posted 20 points in
71-46 victory
over TCU. His most celebrated junior moment came when New Mexic
routed
third-ranked BYU in Provo, as McDonald posted 26 points on 5-8 shooting from behind the arc.

Senior Year, 2011-2012

With the emergence of teammate Tony Snell as a legitimate all-around small forward and continual injury problems, McDonald opened the season as a reserve, marking his last season as the only season he was not a starter for the majority of the season. Nonetheless, McDonald had a few shining games, including an 18-point effort in 19 minutes off the benc
against
UMKC.

Professional career

In November 2012 Phillip signed to play for Eco Örebro, a professional team based out of Örebro, Sweden.

Personal life

Phillip is married to former model, Michaela McDonald of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The two have son, Jayden McDonald born December 29, 2010, and daughter Mariah McDonald, born June 25, 2013

References

External links

SportsCenter Top Ten, February 9, 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Phillip 1989 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Sweden Basketball players from Texas People from Cypress, Texas New Mexico Lobos men's basketball players Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas Shooting guards American men's basketball players