Purdue women’s basketball offseason tracker: April Phillips named associate head coach
What to know about April Phillips, who was named an associate head coach for the Boilermakers on Tuesday:
• Spent three seasons as the head coach at San Jose State. Phillips wasn’t retained after last season following a 23-71 three-year record, including an 8-46 mark in the Mountain West Conference. It was Phillips’ first job as a head coach at the Division I level.
• The native of Long Beach, Calif., replaces Alex Guyton, who wasn’t retained after last season.
• Joins coach Katie Gearlds’ staff, which includes Kelly Komara and Mark Stephens.
"I am excited to bring April to Purdue," Gearlds said in a statement. "She has been an elite recruiter and player development coach throughout her career. Her experience across the country is something that will benefit our players and this program. I'm ready for her to get here and get started with our staff."
• Named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 30 Rising Coaches Under 30 list in 2017 and 2018.
• Wrote a book titled: The Recruiting Blueprint: 6 Steps to Navigating Your Recruiting Process, which is available on Amazon.
• Before arriving in San Jose, Phillips spent one year as an assistant under Vic Schaefer at Texas during the 2021-22 season. Phillips has worked primarily with post players during her stops as an assistant coach.
“Apri has so much experience and knowledge in both the physical and the mental part of being a post player. A lot of times in this game,
Muit’s as much mental as it is physical. I think she’s been really good with our kids in both regards in getting them ready to play day in and day out,’’Schaefer said about Phillips in 2022, about a month before she was named the head coach at San Jose State.
• Served as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at California for two seasons before moving to Texas. Phillips has also worked at Arizona, Loyola Marymount, Georgia Tech, and New Haven. She’s held the title of recruiting coordinator at three different programs.
• Was co-president, head trainer, and coach at S&A Next Level Basketball from 2010 to 2013. She was the general manager of basketball operations of Sportsplus in Cincinnati from 2010 to 2011.
• As a player, Phillips started her career at Georgia Tech. She appeared in 26 games during her freshman season before transferring to Xavier, where she also competed in track and field. Phillips won the 2019 Atlantic 10 shot put title and set the program’s outdoor shot put record. On the basketball floor, Phillips helped Xavier reach the Elite Eight in 2010 and finish with a 30-4 record.
• Her teammates at Xavier were one-time Purdue signee Dee Dee Jernigan and one-time commitments Amber Harris and Ta’Shia Phillips. Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski was Xavier’s AD when April Phillips attended the school.
• Played professionally in Israel, Finland, and Belgium.