Phil Mathews (basketball)

Phil Mathews
Mathews in 2011 with UCLA.
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamRiverside City College
ConferenceOrange Empire Conference
Record22–34
Biographical details
Born (1950-11-27) November 27, 1950 (age 73)
Riverside, California, U.S.
Playing career
1968–1970Riverside CC
1970–1972UC Irvine
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1972–1973UC Irvine (asst.)
1973–1974Santa Ana Valley HS (JV)
1974–1978UC Irvine (asst.)
1978–1981Santa Ana Valley HS
1981–1985Cal State Fullerton (asst.)
1985–1995Ventura CC
1995–2004San Francisco
2004–2006San Bernardino Valley CC
2006–2010Nebraska (asst.)
2010–2013UCLA (asst.)
2013–presentRiverside CC
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1994–1995Ventura CC
Head coaching record
Overall139–123 (college)
371–107 (junior college)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships

Phillip Louis Mathews (born November 27, 1950) is an American basketball coach who is currently head men's basketball coach at Riverside City College. A native of Riverside, California, Mathews played college basketball at Riverside City and UC Irvine.

Since 1972, Mathews has coached at the high school, junior college, and college levels. He began his career as an assistant at UC Irvine, Santa Ana Valley High School, and Cal State Fullerton. From 1985 to 1995, Mathews was a junior college head coach at Ventura and led Ventura to ten conference titles and two state titles. Mathews then was head coach for the University of San Francisco from 1995 to 2004, before returning to the junior college ranks as San Bernardino Valley head coach from 2004 to 2006. Mathews then became an assistant coach at two NCAA programs, Nebraska from 2006 to 2010 and UCLA from 2010 to 2013. Mathews became head coach at Riverside City in 2013.

In the 1998 episode of Teletubbies entitled, "Basketball", Mathews made an appearance with his son, Jordan, as they played basketball on the Sobrato Center court.

Early life and college playing career

Phillip Louis Mathews was born in Riverside, California and graduated from John W. North High School in Riverside in 1968. Mathews then attended Riverside City College for two years and transferred to the University of California, Irvine and lettered two years as a guard on the UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team.[1][2] Mathews graduated from UC Irvine in 1972 with a B.A. in comparative cultures.[1]

Coaching career

Mathews began his coaching career in the 1972–73 season as an assistant at UC Irvine under Tim Tift.[1] He then spent one season as junior varsity coach at Santa Ana Valley High School before returning to UC Irvine for four more seasons as an assistant again under Tift.[1][2] UC Irvine, then in Division II, made the 1974 NCAA tournament. In 1978, Mathews returned to Santa Ana Valley High to become varsity basketball coach. In three seasons with Mathews as coach, Santa Ana Valley won two Century League titles.[1]

In 1981, Mathews returned to the collegiate ranks in his first NCAA Division I job, as an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton under George McQuarn.[1] During Mathews's four seasons on staff, Cal State Fullerton made the 1983 National Invitation Tournament.

From 1985 to 1995, Mathews was head coach on the junior college level, at Ventura College. Mathews had a 298–56 record at Ventura, with CCCAA titles in 1987 and 1995. Mathews also served as athletics coordinator at Ventura in the 1994–95 season.[1]

Mathews then was head coach at the University of San Francisco from 1995 to 2004. San Francisco had winning records in 6 of Mathews's nine seasons (including every season from 1995–96 to 1999–00) and made the 1998 NCAA tournament by virtue of winning the WCC tournament. After the 2003–04 season, USF fired Mathews, who finished his tenure with a 139–123 record.[3]

After USF, Mathews returned to the junior college ranks as head coach at San Bernardino Valley College. Mathews led San Bernardino Valley to a 27–5 record in 2004–05 with the Foothill Conference title, then 24–12 in 2005–06.[4] In 2006, Mathews returned to Division I as an assistant coach at Nebraska under Doc Sadler. Mathews remained on staff for four seasons, during which Nebraska made the NIT in 2008 and 2009.

In 2010, Mathews joined Ben Howland's staff at UCLA as an assistant coach. Mathews coached for three seasons, during which UCLA made the NCAA Tournament in 2011 and 2013 and won the Pac-12 regular season title in 2013. Mathews became head coach at Riverside City College in 2013.[5] Riverside went 12–17 in 2013–14, then 10–17 in 2014–15.[6][7]

Personal life

Mathews's two sons Jordan and Jonah are professional basketball players.[8]

Head coaching record

Junior college

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Ventura Pirates (Western State Conference) (1985–1995)
1985–86 Ventura CC 17–10 8–4 T-1st CCCAA Regional Finals
1986–87 Ventura CC 31–4 12–1 1st (North) CCCAA Champions
1987–88 Ventura CC 23–9 11–2 1st (North) CCCAA Regional Second Round
1988–89 Ventura CC 28–6 12–2 1st (North) CCCAA Regional Finals
1989–90 Ventura CC 26–10 11–3 1st (North) CCCAA Regional Second Round
1990–91 Ventura CC 30–5 8–0 1st (North) CCCAA Regional Finals
1991–92 Ventura CC 33–5 8–0 1st (North) CCCAA Final Four
1992–93 Ventura CC 37–2 8–0 1st (North) CCCAA Runner-up
1993–94 Ventura CC 36–3 7–1 1st (North) CCCAA Runner-up
1994–95 Ventura CC 37–1 9–1 1st (North) CCCAA Champions
Ventura CC: 298–56 94–14
San Bernardino Valley Wolverines (Foothill Conference) (2004–2006)
2004–05 San Bernardino Valley CC 27–5 13-1 1st[9] CCCAA Runner-up
2005–06 San Bernardino Valley CC 24–12 10–4 3rd[10]
San Bernardino Valley CC: 51–17 23–5
Riverside City Tigers (Orange Empire Conference) (2013–present)
2013–14 Riverside CC 12–17 6–6 4th
2014–15 Riverside CC 10–17 5–7 5th
Riverside CC: 22–34 11–13
Total: 371–107

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

College

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
San Francisco Dons (West Coast Conference) (1995–2004)
1995–96 San Francisco 15–12 8–6 4th
1996–97 San Francisco 16–13 9–5 3rd
1997–98 San Francisco 19–11 7–7 5th NCAA Division I First Round
1998–99 San Francisco 12–18 4–10 7th
1999–00 San Francisco 19–9 7–7 5th
2000–01 San Francisco 12–18 5–9 5th
2001–02 San Francisco 13–15 8–6 4th
2002–03 San Francisco 15–14 9–5 3rd
2003–04 San Francisco 17–14 7–7 4th
San Francisco: 138–124 64–62
Total: 138–124

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Philip Mathews". San Francisco Dons. Archived from the original on May 25, 2005. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Weyler, John (January 14, 1993). "He's Got Ventura His Way". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  3. ^ Adams, Bruce (March 9, 2004). "Coach Mathews fired by USF". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  4. ^ "Phil Mathews". UCLA Bruins. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  5. ^ Steele, Allan (May 14, 2013). "Phil Mathews to take over at RCC". Riverside Press-Enterprise. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  6. ^ "2013-14 Men's Basketball Schedule".
  7. ^ "2014-15 Riverside City College Men's Basketball Schedule".
  8. ^ Thiry, Lindsey (January 27, 2018). "Something was amiss for USC's Jonah Mathews, but then he changed shoes and his shots fell". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  9. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). athletics.rcc.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ Antelope Valley 2006-2007 media guide Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, p. 12.