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After 26 years serving as an assistant coach in the Mountlake Terrace Hawks boys basketball program, Johnny Phillips was elevated to the team’s head coaching position in 2024. Now the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association (WIBCA) is recognizing Phillips for his contribution to the Terrace program by presenting him with the organization’s highest honor.
Phillips will be inducted into the WIBCA Hall of Fame at a banquet at Mountlake Terrace this July and will be installed into the group’s “Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame” — applauding his work under former head coaches Roger Ottmar and Nalin Sood.
“Johnny Phillips and his coaching tenure at Mountlake Terrace High School epitomizes why the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association inducts assistant coaches into our Hall of Fame,” Sood said in a statement.
Phillips becomes the fourth Mountlake Terrace High School coach to be inducted in the WIBCA Hall of Fame after Ottmar, Sood and another former assistant coach, Greg Wirtz.
“The common thread amongst all of us is ‘Coach Philly,’ Sood said. “The success of the program is well-documented and mainly because of the outstanding and dedicated student athletes that came through our program — but also due to the hard work, dedication and the loyalty of Coach Philly. Johnny Phillips, for close to 30 years, has epitomized all these traits.”
“No one is more deserving of this than him; no one is more proud than Nalin Sood,” Sood added.
Phillips, in addition to his 27 years as a coach in the Terrace boys basketball program, graduated from MTHS in 1990.
Joining Phillips in the WIBCA Hall of Fame Class of 2025 are Steve Johnson (Jackson High School), Scott Orness (North Kitsap High School), Dave Pickering (Lake Stevens High School) and Kent Victor (Lynden High School). The late Jim Marsh (a leader in Seattle-area youth basketball) will be a recipient of the “Ed & Shirley Pepple Award,” Shane Stacy (Meridian High School) will be presented with the “Pat Fitterer You Gotta Love It Award” and Kellen Drake (Entiat High School) will be honored with the “John Wooden Award.”
The WIBCA Hall of Fame banquet is set for July 15 at the Nile Shrine Golf Course. Tickets ($40 each) are available for the event at wibcahalloffame.com/events.
Very well deserved Philly!