By CHIP MILLER
Terrence Phillips, the 5-foot-11 2015 Oak Hill Academy (VA) point guard, tells SNY.tv he has trimmed his list to two, despite not currently holding an official offer from either.
“Right now it’s down to two schools, Missouri and Loyola Marymount,” Phillips told SNY.tv. “So those are the two schools that I am really looking at and the two schools that are really looking at me”
Both schools were in the gym during the Saturday sessions at the Marshall County Hoop Fest in Benton, Ky., and Phillips took notice.
“They were both in the building at Marshall County, so that was fun,” he said. “Loyola Marymount was there to see me make 18 assists and they were both in the building Saturday night against Our Savior, so that was a big deal.”
Phillips currently holds no official offer from either school, but is hopeful he can secure one over the next few weeks.
“I’m kind of hoping,” he said. “I’ve got a thought in my head that Missouri kind of said that they want to offer me, but they want to see me play one more time, or something like that. And then, I’m assuming when I go on my official to LMU they are going to offer me. Hopefully by the end of this month or the end of this week, I can figure something out with that.”
Phillips has set his officials to Loyola Marymount and to Missouri.
“I am supposed to take an official up to LMU on December 28-29,” Phillips told SNY.tv on Monday via text..
So what does Phillips like about the Lions?
“Well for one it’s back home for me,” he said. “Growing up in California, being back home, playing around my family, which is a big thing I’m looking at for them right now.”
“Having a [former] NBA coach [Mike Dunlap], I’m pretty sure you’re going to play an NBA style of ball. Just being coached by an NBA coach is a really big plus for me. I really like to watch a lot of NBA players, so having that NBA coach is something I would really like to enjoy having.”
As far as an official to Missouri, Phillips told SNY.tv Monday that he will officially visit the Tigers on January 2-4. Phillips said Missouri has really amped up its involvement recently.
“Missouri has been in my picture since August when I was at the Chris Paul camp,” he said. “[Mizzou assistant] Rob [Fulford] gave me a call about it and then they have been in my picture more and more recently and then the past week, the past four days, they’ve been in my book a lot more.”
Oak Hill coach Steve Smith is confident offers from both schools are in Phillips’ future.
“I think they both will eventually [offer],” Smith said. “Terrence is perceived as small, but he is a tough on-ball defender with the ability to really push the ball offensively. He’s outstanding in pick-and-roll situations. A pass-first true point, he also can knock down threes and has a nice pull up game,” Smith added.
With all of the talent at Oak Hill, scoring hasn’t been the focus for Phillips, who goes by the Twitter handle of @FloorGeneral03, a fitting name for a true pass first point guard.
“Seeing the players here [at Oak Hill], I don’t have to score as much as a normal point guard would, which makes me a great passer,” he said. “So I think this year, guys like Dwayne Bacon, Andrew Fleming, Josh Reeves, Joe Hampton, Daniel Giddens allow me to be more of a playmaker for this team. Yes, I could score a lot more whenever I wanted to, but here, being at Oak Hill with this talent, I don’t need to score.”
For now Phillips will focus on their upcoming games and a trip to Hawaii, but said he wants to try and finalize his decision by his birthday.
“In all honesty, if it comes to a late decision it just happens to be that, but I kind of want to get it done before my birthday, Jan. 12,” he said. “So I am hoping at the end of this month I can have an offer from both schools so I can say, ‘Hey mom and dad, this is where I am going to go.'”
