Tari L. Phillips (born March 6, 1969) is an American professional
women's basketball
Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
player. She currently plays with Acer ERG Priolo, an Italian A1 team based in
Priolo Gargallo, Sicily. Her cousin
Tayyiba Haneef-Park
Tayyiba Mumtaz Haneef-Park (born March 23, 1979) is a retired American indoor volleyball player. She played at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, where the team finished in 5th place. Haneef-Park also competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic ...
plays for USA Volleyball.
Born in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
, Phillips attended the
University of Georgia during her first three college years, and helped its ''Lady Bulldogs'' team to the
NCAA Regional Finals in 1987 and 1988. She transferred during her senior year to the
University of Central Florida, where she graduated in 1991.
She played for the
Seattle Reign and the
Colorado Xplosion in the
American Basketball League (1996-1998) American Basketball League is a name that has been used by four defunct basketball leagues in the US:
*American Basketball League (1925–1955), the first major professional basketball league
*American Basketball League (1961–1962), a league that ...
. 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
The Orlando Miracle were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Orlando, Florida. It began play in the 1999 WNBA season. The Miracle relocated, in 2003, to Uncasville, Connecticut, where the team became the Connecticut Su ...
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 in the WNBA's Expansion Draft in December 1999, but she was later traded to the
New York Liberty
The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...
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 and signed with the
Houston Comets
The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...
for the 2005 WNBA season. The Comets waived Phillips on July 2, 2007.
Phillips won a
Gold Medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
with
USA Basketball
USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympi ...
during the
Basketball World Championship in 2002. She was named to the team as a replacement for the injured
Tina Thompson
Tina Marie Thompson (born February 10, 1975) is an American former WNBA professional basketball player who served as the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team from 2018-2022. Thompson was inducted into both the Women's Bas ...
.
USA Basketball
Phillips was named to the USA team for the 1993
World University Games
The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".
The Universiade is referred t ...
competition in
Buffalo, New York. 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,
Changzhou and
Nanjing, China. The team was coached by
Van Chancellor
Van Winston Chancellor (born September 27, 1943) is a former college and professional basketball coach. He coached University of Mississippi women's basketball, Louisiana State University women's basketball, and the professional Houston Comet ...
. 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