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Jim Phillips (athletic administrator)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jim Phillips
Phillips in 2024
Current position
TitleCommissioner
ConferenceACC
Biographical details
BornChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2004–2008Northern Illinois University
2008–2021Northwestern University
2021–presentACC Commissioner

James J. Phillips is an American college athletic administrator. He currently serves as Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), a role he began in 2021.[1]

Early life and education

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Phillips was born and raised in Chicago, the youngest of 10 children and a first-generation college graduate.[2] His father, John Phillips, was a design engineer and veteran of the United States Navy. His mother Anita Phillips was a stay at home mother.[3]

Phillips began his career on the coaching side as a basketball team manager and student assistant at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He went on to serve as a graduate assistant coach and later an assistant basketball coach at Arizona State University before transitioning to athletics administration work in 1997.[4]

Phillips earned a Ph.D. in administration from the University of Tennessee, a master's degree in education from Arizona State University[2] and an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois.[5]

Career

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Early career

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Phillips began his career in athletics administration as part of the external relations department at Arizona State followed by his service at the University of Tennessee from 1998 to 2000. He served as the Associate Director of Athletics, then Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Affairs at University of Notre Dame from 2000 to 2004.[6] He served as the athletic director at Northern Illinois University from 2004 to 2008.[7]

Northwestern University

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He subsequently served as the athletic director of Northwestern University from 2008 to 2021.[8][9] He was the first athletic director on the NCAA Board of Directors and Board of Governors. In 2015, he was the inaugural chair of the NCAA Division I Council. He later served on the Division I Men’s Basketball Selection Committee, Division I Women’s Basketball Selection Committee and Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee.[10] In 2021, Phillips was also selected to serve on the NCAA Constitution Review Committee, and the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee.[11]

Atlantic Coast Conference

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In 2021, Phillips became commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference.[1] In October 2021, Phillips announced that the ACC headquarters was relocating. It was moved from its original headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina to a new location in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2023.[12]

Phillips has led the ACC's transition to becoming a national conference by admitting University of California, Southern Methodist University, and Stanford University, with their membership beginning in 2024.[11] University of California and Stanford University played their first ACC home games in October 2024.[13]

In October 2024, Phillips was appointed to the NCAA board of governors. He also serves on its executive committee and chairs its finance and audit committee.[14] He serves as Vice President of the Collegiate Commissioners Association, and will begin serving as President for the 2024-2025 academic year.[15]

Under Phillips' leadership, the ACC announced its endorsement of a success incentive initiative in for the 2024-2025 season.[16] This initiative is designed to incentivize investment by awarding proportional revenue to high-performing schools.[17]

Personal life

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Phillips has been described by Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde as "an emphatic Catholic" and "punctilious in the practice of worship" who attends daily mass. He met his wife Laura, herself the youngest of seven children from a Chicago Catholic family, while they were both attending University of Illinois. They have five children together.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "ACC Selects James J. Phillips as Conference's Next Commissioner". www.theacc.com (Press release). Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Forde, Pat (May 13, 2024). "ACC at a Crossroads: Jim Phillips Facing Internal and External Threats to League's Survival". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  3. ^ Times-Dispatch, David Teel Richmond (2021-05-07). "Teel: Going behind-the-scenes with new ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, who has spent his life preparing for the challenges of the job". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
  4. ^ Yusuf, Farouk (2023-07-25). "Who is Jim Phillips? A closer look at the professional career of the ACC commissioner and his recent involvement in the Northwestern hazing lawsuit". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  5. ^ Teel, David (January 12, 2023). "A tireless advocate for ACC, Jim Phillips also a natural candidate for Big Ten". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  6. ^ "ACC's Jim Phillips: Challenges Accepted". www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
  7. ^ Pesek, Shannon (December 14, 2020). "James J. Phillips selected to be next ACC Commissioner". news.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  8. ^ DeCock, Luke (December 14, 2020). "ACC picks Northwestern's Jim Phillips as commissioner. Here are the challenges he'll face". News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  9. ^ DeCock, Luke (December 14, 2020). "In hiring Jim Phillips, the ACC broke with 70 years of tradition. It was time". News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  10. ^ "ACC picks Northwestern's Jim Phillips as commissioner. Here are the challenges he'll face". News and Observer.
  11. ^ a b "James J. Phillips, Ph.D - Staff Directory". theacc.com. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  12. ^ "How the ACC headquarters landed in Charlotte". WSOC TV. 2023-09-01. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  13. ^ "ACC Road Trip: California Dreamin'". www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. 2024-10-18. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  14. ^ Marks, Brendan. "Why the ACC-ESPN 'look-in' isn't what it seems, and the rest of Jim Phillips' plans for the future". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  15. ^ "ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D., Appointed to NCAA Board of Governors". admin.theacc.com. 2024-10-07. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  16. ^ "ACC Board of Directors Announces Endorsement of Success Incentives". FSU Seminoles On SI. 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  17. ^ "ACC schools have a new path to more revenue: Just win... in the postseason". AP News. 2024-09-04. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
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