'A proven winner': Utah Valley promotes Todd Phillips to replace Mark Madsen

OREM — Utah Valley had interest from around the country for its head coach opening when Mark Madsen took the same position at California.

But the replacement for the former Los Angeles Lakers big man nicknamed "Mad Dog" was next door in the Nuvi basketball practice facility the whole time.

Take off the interim tag and move to the corner office, Todd Phillips isn't going anywhere.

The Wolverines made the change official Thursday afternoon after a team meeting, naming Phillips the fourth head coach in the program's Division I history.

"This position garnered unprecedented national attention, and I believe it is one of the best mid-major jobs in college basketball," Utah Valley athletic director Jared Sumsion said. "Todd Phillips was the evident choice to lead our program with the upward trajectory he has helped build.

"Todd has a tremendous basketball mind who understands the game at its deepest level. His recruiting network in this region and beyond is second to none. He has a tremendous ability to develop players and build a synergistic team environment. With two WAC championships and a deep NIT run, his track record at Utah Valley already speaks for itself."

Madsen, the 47-year-old former Stanford star who returned to the Bay Area to coach the Cardinal historic rival after a decade-long NBA career, compiled a 70-51 record in four seasons at Utah Valley — including an impressive 48 wins over the past two seasons, two Western Athletic Conference championships in three seasons, and wins over Oregon, BYU, New Mexico, Colorado and Cincinnati in his final campaign.

The Wolverines never went to the NCAA Tournament until Madsen. But a day before he accepted the Cal job, Utah Valley advanced to the semifinals of the NIT in Las Vegas for the first time in program history before finishing 58th in the final NET rankings and 64th by KenPom.com.

Through most of it, Phillips has been Madsen's right-hand man, the familiar face at the front of the bench. The Lewis-Clark State graduate joined Madsen's staff in 2019 and was promoted to associate head coach a year later, being part of the historic campaign in his second season that helped Utah Valley to a 20-win campaign and WAC regular-season title in 2020-21.

"I'm incredibly honored and very appreciative of President Astrid Tuminez, Jared Sumsion, and the search committee for the opportunity to be the head coach at Utah Valley," Phillips said. "I love Utah Valley. I love the community and am excited to build on the success that we have already achieved. I want to build a legacy here. We're going to continue to win, and we are going to win championships."

Phillips played a key role in the development of the nation's leading rebounder Fardaws Aimaq, the former WAC Defensive Player of the Year who transferred to Texas Tech last season. He also helped four Wolverines earn All-WAC recognition that season, and added WAC Defensive Player and Newcomer of the Year honors for Aziz Bandaogo in 2022-23 to go along with first-team all-conference honors to Trey Woodbury and Le'Tre Darthard.

But retaining Phillips was more than a move towards continuity; he's also had success in every step of his coaching career. Phillips posted a 205-58 record in eight seasons at Salt Lake Community College, with four NJCAA Tournament appearances and a junior college national title in close to a decade with the Bruins.

Before taking over the program, Phillips spent three seasons as an assistant under coach Norm Parrish. The duo led Salt Lake to its first-ever national title in 2009, helping Parrish to jobs at Utah and Hawaii before spending the past eight seasons at Westminster College in Salt Lake City.

"Todd Phillips is a proven winner who was instrumental in helping our men's basketball team to its best season ever," Utah Valley president Astrid Tuminez said in a statement. "The team made it to the NIT semifinals for the first time in program history and Todd was a big part of that success. We are confident that his coaching skills will continue to build on the team's winning tradition and will inspire our student-athletes in and out of competition and in the classroom. We are honored to have him as our men's basketball coach."

Phillips also spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Westminster beginning in 2000, helping the Griffins to eight 20-win seasons, six conference titles and six bids to the NAIA national tournament.

Originally from Boise, Idaho, Phillips played basketball at Snow College before finishing his career at Lewis-Clark in Lewiston, Idaho, in 1997-99. He later earned a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Utah.

Phillips and his wife Bobbi are the parents of two children.

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