Andy Phillip

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American basketball player and coach

title: "Andy Phillip" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1922-births", "2001-deaths", "20th-century-american-sportsmen", "all-american-college-baseball-players", "all-american-college-men's-basketball-players", "amateur-athletic-union-men's-basketball-players", "american-basketball-league-(1961–62)-coaches", "american-men's-basketball-coaches", "american-men's-basketball-players", "basketball-coaches-from-illinois", "basketball-players-from-illinois", "battle-of-iwo-jima", "boston-celtics-players", "chicago-stags-draft-picks", "chicago-stags-players", "fort-wayne-pistons-players", "illinois-fighting-illini-baseball-players", "illinois-fighting-illini-men's-basketball-players", "military-personnel-from-illinois", "naismith-memorial-basketball-hall-of-fame-inductees", "national-collegiate-basketball-hall-of-fame-inductees", "nba-all-stars", "philadelphia-warriors-players", "point-guards", "shooting-guards", "sportspeople-from-granite-city,-illinois", "st.-louis-hawks-head-coaches", "united-states-marine-corps-officers", "united-states-marine-corps-personnel-of-world-war-ii"] description: "American basketball player and coach" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Phillip" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American basketball player and coach ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox basketball biography"]

Field	Value
name	Andy Phillip
image	Andy_Phillip,_c._1947.jpg
caption	Phillip pictured in The Illio, 1947
height_ft	6
height_in	2
weight_lb	195
birth_date
birth_place	Granite City, Illinois, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
high_school	Granite City (Granite City, Illinois)
college	Illinois (1941–1943, 1946–1947)
draft_year	1947
draft_round	5
draft_pick	47
draft_team	Chicago Stags
career_start	1947
career_end	1958
career_position	Point guard / shooting guard
career_number	19, 7, 4, 14, 17
years1	1947–
team1	Chicago Stags
years2	–
team2	Philadelphia Warriors
years3	–
team3	Fort Wayne Pistons
years4	–
team4	Boston Celtics
cyears1
cteam1	St. Louis Hawks
stat1label	Points
stat1value	6,384 (9.1 ppg)
stat2label	Rebound
stat2value	2,395 (4.4 rpg)
stat3label	Assists
stat3value	3,759 (5.4 apg)
HOF_player	andy-phillip
CBBASKHOF_year	2006
::

NBA champion (1957)
5× NBA All-Star (1951–1955)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1952, 1953)
2× NBA assists leader (, )
Sporting News Player of the Year (1943)
2× Consensus first-team All-American (1942, 1943)
Consensus second-team All-American (1947) | stat1label = Points | stat1value = 6,384 (9.1 ppg) | stat2label = Rebound | stat2value = 2,395 (4.4 rpg) | stat3label = Assists | stat3value = 3,759 (5.4 apg) | HOF_player = andy-phillip | CBBASKHOF_year = 2006 Andrew Michael "Handy Andy" Phillip (March 7, 1922 – April 29, 2001) was an American professional basketball player. Born in Granite City, Illinois, Phillip had an 11-year career and played for the Chicago Stags of the Basketball Association of America and the Philadelphia Warriors, Fort Wayne Pistons and Boston Celtics, of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

High school/College

Phillip led his high school in Granite City, Illinois, to the IHSA state championship in 1940 by defeating Herrin High School with a final score of 24–22 at Huff Gym on the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign campus. It would be that same gymnasium where he earned renown for his talents and for the Fighting Illini's success during war-interrupted, non-consecutive seasons in 1941–1943 and 1946–1947. Phillip was the untitled leader of "The Whiz Kids", a team that included Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Jack Smiley and team captain Art Mathisen. Arguably the most talented basketball team in the nation, Phillip and his teammates would elect not to participate in either the NCAA or NIT tournament based on the army's draft of Mathisen, Menke and Smiley. The team was retroactively named the national champion by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Four of the five, minus Mathisen, returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946–47 after the war ended, but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent. Illinois went 14–6.

While attending Illinois, Phillip was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Phillip served as a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in World War II at Iwo Jima.

Professional basketball

Phillip played in the first five NBA All-Star Games, and was twice named to the All-NBA Second Team. He was the first player to record 500 assists in a season, the first to reach the 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 career assists milestones, and led the NBA in assists during the 1950–51 and 1951–52 seasons. Phillip reached the postseason every year he was in the league, and his teams made it to the NBA Finals during his final four seasons — twice with Fort Wayne and twice with Boston. The 1957 Boston team won the NBA Championship.

Phillip was alleged by one of his Fort Wayne Pistons teammates, George Yardley, to have conspired with gamblers to throw the 1955 NBA Finals to the Syracuse Nationals. In the decisive seventh game, Phillip turned the ball over with three seconds remaining in the game, enabling Syracuse to win by one point, 92–91.

After retiring from playing basketball, he coached the St. Louis Hawks for 10 games in 1958, posting a 6–4 record before he was fired. Phillip later coached the Chicago Majors of the American Basketball League.

Phillip was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961. He was elected to the Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team in 2004. In 2007, Phillip was voted one of the "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament", recognizing his superior performance in his appearance in the tournament.

Phillip died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, on April 29, 2001, aged 79.

Sports writer Dan Manoyan wrote a book about Phillip and his Granite City High School basketball teammates, titled Men of Granite, in 2007. A film based on the book, directed by Dwayne Johnson-Cochran, began production in 2015.

Honors

Basketball

1942, 1943, 1947 – First-team All-Big Ten
1942 & 1943 First Team All-American
1943 – National Player of the Year
1943 – Sporting News National Player of the Year
1961 – Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
1973 – Inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player.
2004 – Elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team".
2006 – Inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
2007 – Named one of the 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament.
September 13, 2008 – Honored jersey which hangs in the State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.

Baseball

1947 – Baseball All-American (First baseman)

Athletics

1942, 1943 – University of Illinois Athlete of the Year
2017 – Inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame

Statistics

Basketball

::data[format=table] | Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Season | Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Games | Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Points | Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |PPG | Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Big Ten Record | Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Overall Record | Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Highlight | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1941–42 | 23 | 232 | 10.0 | | | Consensus 1st team All-American | | 1942–43 | 18 | 305 | 16.9 | | | Big Ten and National Player of the Year | | 1946–47 | 20 | 192 | 9.6 | | | Consensus 2nd team All-American | | Totals | 61 | 729 | 12.0 | **** | **** | | ::

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

::data[format=table]

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1947–48	Chicago	32	–	.336	.583	–	2.3	10.8
1948–49	Chicago	60	–	.348	.676	–	5.3	12.0
1949–50	Chicago	65	–	.349	.704	–	5.8	11.7
1950–51	Philadelphia	66	–	.399	.751	6.8	6.3*	11.2
1951–52	Philadelphia	66	44.4	.366	.753	6.6	8.2*	12.0
1952–53	Philadelphia/Fort Wayne	70	38.4	.397	.738	5.2	5.7	10.3
1953–54	Fort Wayne	71	38.1	.375	.730	3.7	6.3	10.6
1954–55	Fort Wayne	64	36.4	.371	.692	4.5	7.7	9.6
1955–56	Fort Wayne	70	29.7	.365	.563	3.7	5.9	5.8
1956–57†	Boston	67	22.0	.379	.642	2.7	2.5	4.4
1957–58	Boston	70	16.6	.355	.592	2.3	1.7	3.4
Career	701	32.3	.368	.695	4.4	5.4	9.1
::

Playoffs

::data[format=table]

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1948	Chicago	5	–	.283	.714	–	.8	7.2
1949	Chicago	2	–	.389	1.000	–	6.0	19.5
1950	Chicago	2	–	.259	.769	–	6.0	12.0
1951	Philadelphia	2	–	.400	.500	7.5	7.0	7.5
1952	Philadelphia	3	40.7	.421	.792	4.7	7.3	11.7
1953	Fort Wayne	8	41.1	.338	.667	4.0	3.8	10.3
1954	Fort Wayne	4	34.0	.342	.750	3.0	4.3	8.8
1955	Fort Wayne	11	40.5	.323	.850	5.5	7.1	8.5
1956	Fort Wayne	10	17.3	.333	.440	2.6	3.5	2.9
1957†	Boston	10	12.8	.364	.400	2.0	1.7	2.2
1958	Boston	10	9.1	.238	.778	1.4	.7	1.7
Career	67	25.4	.330	.700	3.3	3.7	6.4
::

Head coaching record

|- | style="text-align:left;"|St. Louis | style="text-align:left;"|1958–59 |10||6||4|||| style="text-align:center;"|(fired)|||—||—||—||— | style="text-align:center;"|— |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"|Total | ||10||6||4|||||| —||—||—||—||

References

(March 15, 1943). "Sport: Whiz Kids".
[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/phillan01.html Andy Phillip Stats]. Basketball Reference. Accessed on June 9, 2017.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100322194327/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/MBKBHist-All-TimeRosters--1925-49.html "Illinois Basketball All-Time Rosters"]. Archived from [http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/MBKBHist-All-TimeRosters--1925-49.html the original] on March 22, 2010. Accessed on June 10, 2017.
"My Losing Season: Wyoming @ Utah: Sailors, Ferrin, Mikan and the Great Santini".
(2009). "ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game". ESPN Books.
(December 23, 1946). "Sport: Whiz Kids, Grown Up".
Lamothe, Dan. (April 29, 2009). "Corps to induct 4 into Sports Hall of Fame". Marine Corps Times.
(14 August 1946). "Andy Phillips ready for return to Illinois". [[The St. Louis Star and Times]].
The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball. By Charley Rosen. p. 154. 2001 Seven Stories Press. {{ISBN. 1-58322-268-5
"City Hails Nats' World Title Triumph", Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, pp. 1, 45.
[https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/phillan01c.html Andy Phillip Coaching Stats]. Basketball Reference. Accessed on June 10, 2017.
[http://www.apbr.org/ablhist.html Association for Professional Basketball Research American Basketball League page]
[http://www.nasljerseys.com/ABL/Rosters/Majors_ABL_Rosters.htm NASLJerseys.com Chicago Majors]
[http://www.ihsa.org/initiatives/legends/index.htm IHSA 100 Legends of Boys Basketball]
Goldstein, Richard. [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/04/sports/andy-phillip-79-whiz-kid-in-college-all-star-in-nba.html "Andy Phillip, 79, Whiz Kid In College, All-Star in N.B.A."]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. May 4, 2001. Accessed on June 9, 2017.
Wright, Branson. [http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2015/07/men_of_granite_sports_movie_be.html "Men of Granite sports movie begins production in Cleveland next month"]. Cleveland.com. July 21, 2015. Accessed on June 9, 2017.
"IBCA Hall of Fame".
[https://www.ihsa.org/archive/announcements/060412.htm 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament]
[http://uillinois_microsites.sidearmsports.com/halloffame/andyphillip.html Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame]

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