Phil Sellers

Phillip "Phil" Sellers, Jr. (born November 20, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA.

Early life

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sellers played high school basketball at Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn. He achieved success at the prep level, winning the MVP Award of Pittsburgh's Dapper Dan Tournament at the end of his senior season. He also earned All-America honors at Jefferson and received over 200 scholarship offers from colleges across the country to play basketball. Sellers signed a letter of intent to play at Notre Dame, but worries about managing the tough academics made him reconsider and so he attended Livingston College in New Jersey, a part of Rutgers University specially designed to help students from low-income backgrounds.

Rutgers University

At Rutgers, Sellers played under then-assistant coach and future college basketball legend Dick Vitale. His decision to become a Scarlet Knight was initially criticized, but Sellers lead Rutgers to two NIT berths during his freshman and sophomore seasons and then back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in his final two collegiate seasons.