Female Coach to Guide Men

Tennessee State Athletic Director Teresa Phillips will make history Thursday when she becomes the first woman to coach a Division I men’s basketball team.

The unprecedented decision came after 19 players were ejected Monday night after a brawl between Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky.

Phillips on Tuesday suspended interim Coach Hosea Lewis for one game and announced she would coach the Tigers, 2-20 overall and 0-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference, when they play at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn.

It’s believed to be the first time that a woman will coach male players in a major team sport.

The only women to have served as coaches for a men’s Division I team were assistants: Mary Fenlon at Georgetown and Bernadette Locke at Kentucky.

Phillips was not immediately available for comment. The Vanderbilt graduate coached the Tennessee State women’s team to a 212-189 record from 1989 to 2000.

The Tennessee State men’s team has been marred by turmoil his season.

Nolan Richardson III, son of former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson, resigned Jan. 8, two weeks after Phillips suspended him indefinitely for bringing a gun into the school’s gym.

Richardson admitted he got the gun out of his car during an argument with Lewis, who was then his assistant.

The brawl Monday night broke out with 8:13 to play in the Tigers’ 89-72 loss at Eastern Kentucky. Shawn Fields of Eastern Kentucky had the ball when a hard foul was called on Cedric Bryson, prompting players from both benches to run onto the court.

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Ohio State center Terence Dials will sit out the rest of the season because of a stress fracture in his back.

The 6-foot-9 Dials played the first six games this season, starting four, before back pain kept him out of the Seton Hall game Dec. 21. Tests indicated a stress fracture.

Ohio State will petition the Big Ten Conference for a medical hardship after the season.