Baton Rouge, LA - Shock, grief and dismay --just some of the descriptive words portraying a saddened andsomber mood at Southern University upon discovering facts of the untimely death of one of the Jaguar nation'smost beloved family members.
At the tender age of 30, one of the more lauded members of the Southern University family was relieved of hisduties on earth to answer the bells of a higher calling. Former Southern University basketball great BobbyPhills departed this life on Wednesday, January 12, following a fatal two car accident in Charlotte, NorthCarolina.
"In the loss of Bobby Phills we have truly lost a great person, a great father, a great husband and a greatmentor," lamented Southern University head basketball coach Tommy Green, a mentor of Phills's as theassistant coach during the star athlete's collegiate basketball career at Southern.
"When people talk about Bobby (Phills) most of the discussion will surround his prowess on the basketballcourt," Green continued, "but to know him personally is to know a true class act."
Bobby Phills began his collegiate career at Southern in the summer of 1987 in search of a Bachelor of Sciencedegree in pre-veterinary medicine, his chosen field of study. However, along the way an overwhelmingly giftedbasketball athlete was discovered in Phills with life's journey leading him down a different path to success.
A remarkable student-athlete excelling on the court as well as in the classroom, Phills proved to be extremelydurable as a swingman in Southern's noted up-tempo, "run and gun" style of play.
In four seasons at Southern (1987-90), Phills would establish himself as the school's most prolific three-pointshooter ever, continuing to this day to own single-season records at the school for most three-point field goalsmade (120 in 1991) and most three-point field goals made per game (4.39, also in '91), in one season.
A product of Southern University's Laboratory High School, where he earned two letters in both track and fieldand basketball, Phills established himself, early in life, as not only a capable athlete but a standout student inthe classroom as well.
Mills's senior season at Southern Lab (1987) saw him average 26 points and 13 rebounds per contest underthen head coach Hugh Wallace, as the captain of a team that claimed the state championship that year.
Along the way, Phills busied himself in gathering numerous post-season honors including being selected tothe Louisiana All-State team, being touted the district I-A most valuable player and garnering academic All-America honors.
With talents undoubtedly above and beyond many in his peer group, Phills was vigorously sought after byschools including South Alabama, South Florida, McNeese State and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette(formerly USL); but Phills would eventually settle on homestanding Southern University, listing reasons ofbeing able to play at a nearby, predominantly black institution where his parents could see him play.
His astounding accomplishments as a versatile, yet durable swingman on the Southern University basketballteam did very little in truly profiling the respected, well-rounded, highly-regarded man Phills came to be.
A three-year starter at Southern, Phills consistently scorched opposing defenses, forging a collegiatebasketball career that would eventually land him in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
In his senior season at Southern, Phills posted numbers comparable to one of the greatest, single season effortsever to be attained in Jaguar land.
Phills's 28.6 ppg, ranked fourth in the country, his 3.2 steals per outing was best in the conference and his 4.39three-point field goals made per game made him the nation's leader in that category.
A marksman possessing uncanny range and showmanship, Phills was one of only eight players in the nationselected to participate in the three-point shootout on Final Four weekend in Indiana, following his seniorcampaign at Southern.
Notwithstanding all the many on-the-court achievements, Bobby Phills, adored by his community both homeand abroad, became a man whose off-the-court presence began to supersede his successes on the court.
Never one to forget the foundation of his roots, Phills sought to give bark to his native town of Baton Rougeby founding the Hook A Kid on Golf program -- an annual charity golf event which provided 25 inner-cityyouth, ranging in age from 8 to 12, the opportunity to receive a guided introduction to the game of golf.
In addition, Phills's philanthropic ventures became the gateway to the Bobby Phills Foundation and Club 14,both charity organizations founded by Phills aimed at assisting America's youth in the betterment ofthemselves.
"Bobby Phills epitomized professionalism," stated Roman Banks, assistant men's basketball coach at Southernand friend to the Phills family. "He was always willing to tend a helping hand in any situation, no matter thecause. His loss is a huge loss for everyone, both near and far."
As a student-athlete at Southern, Phills's intellect and early maturation was evident not only to those who knewhis inner being, but to the family he cultivated during his tenure on the Bluff.
Ben Jobe, Phills's head coach while at Southern and current head basketball coach at Tuskegee, listed Phills'sgreatest three attributes as being smart, exciting, and ready. Jobe went on to characterize Phills as being an individual who "makes the classroom his first priority, while prioritizingbasketball as second.
Though idolizing the remarkable talents of Michael Jordan while honing his own basketball abilities atSouthern, Phills stated his favorite professional athlete as being the "tremendous point guard withremarkable Scoring ability" whose attributes were personified in Kevin Johnson, according to Phills.
"Phills will be sorely missed by many who knew him," said Green- "Those who never got the chanceto know him are certainly at a misfortune, for Bobby (Phills) was truly one of the better persons of ourtime."
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