Teresa Lawrence Phillips (born 1958) was the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

, a post she had held since 2001. She was one of the few female athletic directors at a school that sponsors football. She was also the head women's basketball coach at TSU and Fisk University, and led the Tiger men for one game in 2003—becoming the first woman to coach a Division I men's basketball team.

Career

A Chattanooga native, Phillips—then known as Teresa Lawrence—attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

on an academic scholarship. She played

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

on the school's club women's basketball team. In her sophomore year, 1977–78, Vanderbilt upgraded women's basketball to intercollegiate status, with Phillips as a member—becoming Vanderbilt's first black female athlete.Traughber, Bill
Former Vandy player leads TSU
Vanderbilt Commodores athletics, 2009-12-16. Phillips started at center in her sophomore and junior years, but lost her starting spot when the Commodores started adding more scholarship players. Nonetheless, she was named Lady Commodore Athlete of the Year in 1980, and also won the Nashville Civitans' Sportsmanship Award in 1979 and 1980. Phillips graduated in 1980. She was working as an insurance broker in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

when Vanderbilt's first full-time women's coach, Phil Lee, asked her to come back to Nashville as a part-time assistant. She stayed at Vanderbilt from 1981 to 1984, winning the

National Women's Invitational Tournament The National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT) was a post-season tournament for women's intercollegiate basketball programs that was contested from 1969 to 1996. The original sponsorship information appears to have been lost over the ensuin ...

in 1984. She was hired as head coach at

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

Fisk, also in Nashville, in 1984, and tallied a record of 62–38 in five years, winning two Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles. She moved to nearby TSU in 1989, taking over a team that had won a total of eight games in three years. She went 150–151 in 11 years, winning consecutive

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...

regular season tournament titles in 1994 and 1995. She also served as interim athletic director on two occasions while still serving as coach. She was named interim athletic director for a third time in June 2001, and had the "interim" tag removed in 2002.

A woman coaching a men's basketball team

In December 2002, men's basketball coach

Nolan Richardson III Nolan Richardson III (July 16, 1964 – May 13, 2012) was an American college basketball coach and the son of National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame coach Nolan Richardson. Playing career Richardson played for Booker T. Washington High S ...

got into a fight with assistant coach Hosea Lewis and brought a gun into the

Gentry Center Gentry Complex is a multi-purpose facility on the main campus of Tennessee State University (TSU) in Nashville, Tennessee. Opened in 1980 and named for Howard C. Gentry Sr., a long-time professor, coach and athletic director at TSU, the building ho ...

. Phillips suspended Richardson and named Lewis interim coach. Richardson resigned a few weeks later, and Phillips named Lewis interim coach for the rest of the season. In February 2003, TSU and

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

got into a fight-marred game that saw 19 players ejected. Conference rules required Lewis to sit out one game. Rather than force 26-year-old assistant Chris Graves, who only two years' coaching experience, to lead the team, Phillips named herself interim coach for the Tigers' game against Austin Peay. The Tigers lost, 71–56. Although Phillips still sees this as the low point of her tenure as athletic director,

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

named her one of the "101 Most Influential Minorities In Sports" for 2003.Organ, Mike
Teresa Phillips 1st woman to coach a Div. I NCAA men's basketball team
''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...

'', 2014-04-05.

References

External links

Tennessee State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Teresa 1958 births Living people African-American basketball coaches African-American college athletic directors in the United States American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from Tennessee Basketball players from Tennessee Centers (basketball) Sportspeople from Chattanooga, Tennessee Tennessee State Tigers and Lady Tigers athletic directors Tennessee State Lady Tigers basketball coaches Tennessee State Tigers basketball coaches Tennessee State University alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball players Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball coaches Women college athletic directors in the United States