Elmira College’s Interim Director of Athletics, Rhonda Faunce, is pleased to announce the promotion of Thad Phillips to the role of head women’s basketball coach.
Phillips joined the Soaring Eagles as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s programs for the abbreviated 2021 seasons. He takes the reins from EC alumnae Bridget Catanese Paluga ’08, who served as interim head coach during the six-game spring campaign.
“Thad comes with a wealth of knowledge about the game of basketball, and in one short season, I’ve already seen his great ability to teach,” Faunce said. “His energy is infectious, and he leaves no ‘T’ uncrossed. I love his thoroughness with all things he does.”
A veteran bench boss with two decades of experience at the collegiate level, Phillips previously spent 10 seasons as the head men’s basketball coach at Keuka College. He’s the second-winningest coach in program history with 82 wins, which included a team-record 64 victories against North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) opponents. During his tenure, the Wolves made two appearances in the NEAC Tournament, highlighted by a run to the semifinals during the 2014-15 campaign.
Before joining Keuka, Phillips spent three seasons at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, from 2007-10. He previously served as an assistant coach at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, and as a graduate assistant at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. His coaching career began at his alma mater, Concordia University Wisconsin, as an assistant coach and head freshman coach in 2001.
A three-year letter winner for the Falcons, Phillips graduated from Concordia in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. He received a master’s in Health Education from Carroll in 2006.
