West Virginia University basketball coach Bob Huggins has announced that Tarik Phillip has signed a national letter of intent for the 2014-15 academic year.

 

Phillip, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound guard from Brooklyn, N.Y., currently attends Independence Community College in Independence, Kan. He will have three years of eligibility remaining at WVU.

 

“We are excited to be able to land a guard as talented as Tarik in the late signing period,” says Huggins. “Every coach we talked to labeled Tarik as a winner. He gives us much-needed versatility in the backcourt with the ability to play both guard positions. We look for him to be very instrumental in our quest to become a great defensive team again.”

 

This past season at Independence Community College, he averaged 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game for coach Tony Turner. In addition, Phillip shot 55 percent from the floor and 38 percent from 3-point range. He was the Jayhawk Conference Player of the Year in the Eastern Division and was the league’s Freshman of the Year. Phillip was also an all-region selection while helping Independence to the division title.  

 

As a postgraduate, Phillip attended Queen City Prep in Charlotte, N.C., averaging 26 points and seven assists per game for coach Tony Taylor. He previously attended Brooklyn College Academy. Phillip led Brooklyn College Academy to the PSAL “B” city crown as a sophomore. He played AAU basketball with the Long Island Lightning and Exodus. 

           

Phillip joins Jevon Carter (Maywood, Ill./Proviso East HS) and Daxter Miles (Baltimore, Md./Notre Dame Prep [Mass.]/Dunbar HS) in the 2014-15 recruiting class.

 

“This class gives us a much-needed shot of athleticism on the perimeter, and a group of guards with tremendous versatility and the ability to play with or without the ball,” says Huggins. “This depth should provide us the ability to turn up the pressure defensively.”

 

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