Phillips: Plenty Time & Choices

After re-opening her recruitment last June, Ta'Shia Phillips is the most coveted, unsigned prospect in the 2007 class and still in no hurry to make a decision.

STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It seems a lot of people have had Ta'Shia Phillips all wrong. Some have criticized her - as if anyone has the right to be critical of a teenager making a life decision - for being indecisive. The way she explains her present situation as the most prized, unsigned prospect in the 2007 class, Phillips is simply being thorough.

Or careful.

And responsible.

After all, this is a girl who plans to earn a degree in business, then a law degree, after which she wants to launch her own firm and a line of clothing and shoes for larger people (Phillips is 6 feet 6).

So someone who has that clear a vision for her life will, yes, seek a college that fits into that vision.

"I want the entire package," Phillips said of her desired school on Tuesday, between preparations for the McDonald's All-American Game, in which she will play for the West squad.

During her freshman year at Brebeuf Jesuit in Indianapolis, Ind., Purdue offered such a package and Phillips took it. It was close to home, academically rigorous and had a national presence in women's basketball. However, Phillips reopened her recruitment last June after coach Kristy Curry left the the Boilermakers for Texas Tech and was replaced by Sharon Versyp.

The coaching change was the only variable that changed, but it was an important one.

Ta'Shia Phillips

"The coach I was originally comfortable with left," Phillips said. "But Purdue still is an excellent school. The girls are the same girls I was excited about, it has the same academics, the same reputation for basketball and the same everything it originally had, except for the coaching staff."

Her previous commitment and decommitment is "really not an advantage or disadvantage" for Purdue, Phillips said. But of course Purdue now has competition. Among the other schools that showed genuine interest by attending games or practices this past season are Duke, Indiana, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina State and USC. As such, those schools are on Phillips' "list," but they don't complete that list, she is careful to point out.

Phillips, naturally, has a plan and that plan lacks only a distinct timetable. The regular signing period for basketball starts on April 11 and runs through May 16. However, an athlete is not obligated to sign a National Letter of Intent as a condition to being a scholarshipped player at an NCAA institution. The LOI - a contract between the athlete and university - only provides certainty in the recruiting process - and, even then, only for the first year of school.

The gamble is that schools will not hold scholarships past May 16. Several coaches told HoopGurlz.com that they would hold one for a player of Phillips' caliber.

And Phillips knows all of the above.

"I'm going to relax," she said, "and let the coaches settle." Phillips pointed out that two schools of interest - LSU and Michigan - are in the midst of making coaching changes and she wants to see how those, and any others, shake out.

Phillips essentially closed off her recruitment during the high-school season to focus on helping Brebeuf Jesuit win a state championship. Mission accomplished. The senior center averaged 21.6 points, while shooting 76.2 percent shooting, as well as 15.0 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in leading Brebeuf to the second Indiana State 3A title of her career.

With the help of her family, Phillips has controlled her recruitment pretty tightly. She, for example, has not given out her cell phone number, so she cannot get unsolicited calls or text messages. She made that decision on her own.

Phillips said her commitment will be a "family decision," but added, "My vote counts the most. ... My parents do not have a specific school that want me to pick. They just want me to be happy and to be there for me."

With a daughter who has successfully swum against the trends and tide in favor of thoroughness and responsibility, Phillips' parents already have gotten more from the recruiting process than most.

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