He's 5'9", but Joe Phillips is one of the top basketball players in the county

This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on Nov. 30, 2001.

By DARYL PRESGRAVES dpresgraves@tampatrib.com

LAND O' LAKES - A transfer from Tarpon Springs High, C.J. McLeod didn't think too much of his new team last season when he met Joe Phillips.

The 5-foot-9 Phillips introduced himself to McLeod as Gulf's starting point guard. McLeod promptly thought to himself, ``No way.''

Then they played together.

``When I came here I thought he was like a regular little short kid,'' said McLeod, a frontcourt player. ``First game I saw him stroking threes, and I was like, `OK.' And he was handling the rock, too. He got my respect.''

All Phillips ever has needed is a chance to play.

``When I started playing when I was little, everyone said it's going to be hard to go somewhere because you are small,'' Phillips said. ``Just hearing all that, I just really want to do something with basketball.''

What the junior has done is elevate himself to one of the top players in Pasco County.

He hit 90 percent of his free throws last season and set a school record with 75 3-pointers.

There probably is not a better shooter in the county. He hit eight 3-pointers in one game last season, also a school record.

But it's Phillips' ability to run the team that most impresses his coach.

``What really makes him a special player is he has an internal court savvy,'' Gulf coach Steve Feldman said. ``He lives on the basketball court. It's never hard to find him. If he's not here, he's at the rec center.''

And he has been since he was a 10-year-old.

Basketball consumed Phillips when he started playing. Every chance he got, he went to the rec center.

And not just to shoot. The scrawny kid wanted to play, and it didn't matter how old or big everyone else was.

``Every time I'd call next they'd just sort of laugh,'' Phillips said. ``They just didn't think I could play because I was so small. After I played my first game everybody started picking me up.

``I was so small and I was playing with all the big guys, but it got me a lot better because I was playing with better competition.''

So it didn't take long - five games - for Phillips to move up to varsity as a 5-foot freshman.

He just needed to be given a chance.

``Pound-for-pound I would not trade him for anybody,'' Feldman said. ``If you could put his leadership and ability in a 6-5 kid, he could have his pick among the Division I schools. He's by far one of the top players in the county.''