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Former coach reeling from Phills death
Posted: Friday January 14, 2000 06:47 PM
TUSKEGEE, Ala. (AP) -- Tuskegee coach Ben Jobe picked up his 500th career win, but he had a hard time celebrating. Jobe said he felt like a "zombie" at Wednesday night's game, reeling from the death of his former player, Bobby Phills. Phills, 30, died Wednesday in a high-speed crash shortly after the Charlotte Hornets guard left practice. He spent four years playing for Jobe at Southern from 1987-91. "I tried to discourage him from getting involved with the NBA," Jobe said Thursday. "He always misunderstood my intentions. "He thought I was saying he wasn't good enough. I meant he was too good for the NBA. I used to tell him, 'Anybody can be a warrior.' But he was a Caesar. He was a leader." He said Phills, who graduated from Southern with a 3.8 GPA in animal science, could have been anything he wanted to be, a "George Washington Carver." "I could coach another lifetime and never have another player like Bobby," said Jobe, 67. "He was my once-in-a-lifetime player. He was special." When Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Wayne Embry called Jobe in the early '90s with a deal that could make Phills an NBA player, the coach lectured him about ruining a "great life." "I told him if he was not serious about this boy, that I would prefer him not play at all," Jobe said. "Wayne told me that he knew all about his character and his ability and felt he was the right fit. Bobby had already made that team even before his flight left. "He was never infected by the disease of the NBA culture. He was the same kid he was at Southern."
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