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Phillips to be first woman to coach D-I men
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Teresa Phillips' first game as coach of Tennessee State's men's basketball team will be one for the record books.

Phillips, the school's athletics director, will become the first woman to coach a men's Division I college basketball team when the Tigers play at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn., on Thursday night.

Phillips suspended interim coach Hosea Lewis for one game Tuesday and announced she would coach the team a day after 19 players were ejected following a brawl between Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky.

It's believed to be the first time that a woman will coach male players in a major team sport.

There are plenty of men coaching women's college basketball teams. Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has won three NCAA titles and two out of the last three.

But the only women to ever serve as coaches for a men's Division I team were assistants: Bernadette Locke at Kentucky and Stephanie Ready at Coppin State.

Phillips coached the Tennessee State women to a 212-189 record from 1989-2000. She took over a program that had been 2-25 and went 12-14 in her first season.

The Tennessee State men are in an even worse state of affairs than Phillips' early teams. The Tigers are 2-20 and 0-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference and previously dealt with coaching turmoil this season.

Nolan Richardson III, the son of former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson, resigned Jan. 8, two weeks after Phillips suspended him indefinitely for bringing a gun into the school's gym. Richardson admitted he got the gun out of his car during an argument with Lewis, who was then his assistant. Phillips hired Lewis as interim coach upon Richardson's resignation.

Monday night's brawl broke out with 8:13 to play in the Tigers' 89-72 loss at Eastern Kentucky. Eastern's Shawn Fields had the ball when a hard foul was called on Tennessee State's Cedric Bryson, prompting players from both benches to run onto the floor.

Fields, Bryson and Eastern's Kenyatta Dix and Champ Slaughter were ejected for fighting, while nine players from both teams were ejected for leaving the bench. The rest of the players who were in when the fight started also were ejected.

The game resumed with only four players on each side; Tennessee State finished with three players after one fouled out.

Bryson, Slaughter and Dix were suspended for one game, as mandated by NCAA rules. OVC interim commissioner Ron English assessed a one-game suspension to TSU's Josh Cooperwood for his action. EKU's Sherard Rogers, who was responsible for throwing a box of mini-basketballs at a group of players, was suspended immediately Eastern.

The players who left their respective bench areas during the disturbance were all suspended for the remainder of that game. After viewing the tape, which showed players standing alone or holding one another, English determined that they did not engage in any fighting activities, and will not assess any further penalties to them.

"Monday night's altercation is certainly not indicative of the outstanding athletic spirit of the OVC or Tennessee State University," Phillips said in a statement. "We look forward to completing our season on a positive note."