Tari L. Phillips (born March 6, 1969) is an American professional women's basketball player. She currently plays with Acer ERG Priolo, an Italian A1 team based in

Priolo Gargallo Priolo Gargallo ( Sicilian: ''Priolu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (southern Italy). It is about southeast of Palermo and about northwest of Syracuse. The name Priolo Gargallo comes from the nobleman Mar ...

, Sicily. Her cousin Tayyiba Haneef-Park plays for USA Volleyball. Born in Orlando, Florida, Phillips attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

during her first three college years, and helped its ''Lady Bulldogs'' team to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Regional Finals in 1987 and 1988. She transferred during her senior year to the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

, where she graduated in 1991. She played for the

Seattle Reign OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

and the

Colorado Xplosion The Colorado Xplosion was the first women's professional basketball franchise in Colorado, an American Basketball League (ABL) team based in Denver. Playing from 1996 through 1998, the team produced many memorable moments for Colorado sports fan ...

in the American Basketball League (1996-1998). She made the ABL's Western Conference All-Star team in both 1997 and 1998, and was named the MVP of the 1997 All-Star Game. After the ABL abruptly folded, Phillip was selected by her hometown team, the Orlando Miracle in the first round (eighth overall) of the WNBA Draft on May 4, 1999. After her WNBA rookie season in 1999, she was selected by the

Portland Fire The Portland Fire were a professional basketball team in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) based in Portland, Oregon that joined the league in 2000 as the counterpart to the National Basketball Association, NBA’s Portland Trail B ...

in the WNBA's Expansion Draft in December 1999, but she was later traded to the New York Liberty just prior to the start of the WNBA's 2000 season. She played with the Liberty from 2000 to 2004. After the 2004 season ended, she became an unrestricted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

and signed with the Houston Comets for the 2005 WNBA season. The Comets waived Phillips on July 2, 2007. Phillips won a Gold Medal with USA Basketball during the Basketball World Championship in 2002. She was named to the team as a replacement for the injured Tina Thompson.

USA Basketball

Phillips was named to the USA team for the 1993 World University Games competition in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. The team had a 6–2 record and won the bronze medal. Phillips was the leading scorer in several games including 25 points against Japan and 23 against China. Phillips was the overall leading scorer for the team, averaging 18.8 points per game and led the team in rebounding with 11.0 per game. Phillips was selected to represent the US at the 1995 USA Women's Pan American Games, however, only four teams committed to participate, so the event was cancelled. In 2002, Phillips was named to the national team which competed in the World Championships in

Zhangjiagang Zhangjiagang (), formerly Shazhou County (), is a county-level city under the administration of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China and one of the many ports along the Yangtze river. With 1,246,762 inhabitants as of the 2010 census, the city is now ...

Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

and

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, China. The team was coached by Van Chancellor. Phillips scored 3.3 points per game. The USA team won all nine games, including a close title game against Russia, which was a one-point game late in the game.

References

External links

WNBA ProfileTeam roster for Acer ERG Priolo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Tari 1969 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American women's basketball players Basketball players from Orlando, Florida College women's basketball players in the United States Colorado Xplosion players Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball players Houston Comets players New York Liberty players Power forwards (basketball) Seattle Reign (basketball) players University of Central Florida alumni Orlando Miracle players Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars Universiade bronze medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball Medalists at the 1993 Summer Universiade United States women's national basketball team players