University hands reins to Phillips

Garrick Phillips, boys basketball coach at Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, Wash., for the past 13 years, has been hired for the vacant position at University High.

It will be a homecoming for Phillips, 36, who graduated from Northwest Christian in 1988.

“It’s a chance to get back close to family and some friends I haven’t seen since high school,” Phillips said. “And the timing is right with what’s going on at Mount Si (a successful program).”

The change does not come without soul searching.

Phillips coached the Wildcats to a 23-7 sixth-place finish in the State 3A tournament last winter, beating West Valley (Spokane) in the tourney opener. Phillips said the district’s elementary and middle school teams were also successful.

“I got the job right out of college as a 23-year-old head coach and we love where we live,” he said. “But I was looking for a new challenge and am excited to take on a program with a great history.”

Phillips attended Mead before transferring to NWC. He averaged 16 points per game as a senior – a season in which the Crusaders finished third at state. He also played four years at the University of Puget Sound.

Mount Si had a 28-game losing streak before finishing 3-17 his first season. By the third year, 1996, the Wildcats had come within a game of reaching the state tournament.

Mount Si qualified for the tournament in 2000 and last year.

“I like the fact that he has a plan for building a program,” said Ken VanSickle, U-Hi’s activities coordinator, “and the fact that he had taken over a program that hadn’t had very much success and turned it into a strong one.”

The Titans have qualified for 10 state tournaments, the last in 1985. Phillips becomes U-Hi’s seventh head coach and the fifth since 1988.