April Phillips out as SJSU basketball coach

San Jose State is searching for a new women’s basketball coach as the school announced Monday April Phillips would not return to the role.

Phillips headed up the Spartans’ program for three seasons, amassing a 23-71 record, including a 10-22 season this winter, which saw just three wins in 18 Mountain West games. San Jose State finished 10th in the 11-team league and lost to Fresno State in the first round of the conference tournament earlier this month. SJSU was just 8-46 in conference play over Phillips’ tenure.

The Spartans will begin an “immediate national search” for Phillips’ replacement to lead a program that has never made an NCAA Tournament. The transfer portal opened Monday and the landscape of creating a roster could change next month with the expected approval of the House v. NCAA settlement bringing direct payments to student-athletes into the fold across college athletics.

SJSU’s top scorer Amiah Simmons (15.6 points per game) and leading rebounder Djessira Diawara (6.1 per game) from this season were both seniors, leaving roster holes for the next coach to fill.

Phillips, a former player at Georgia Tech and Xavier arrived before the 2022-23 season from Texas, where she was an assistant coach who had previously worked at Cal and Arizona. She replaced nine-year coach Jamie Craighead Turner.