Phil Sellers

Phillip Sellers Jr. (November 20, 1953 – September 19, 2023) was an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Amateur career Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sellers played high school basketball at Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn. He also earned Third-Team Parade All-American honors at Jefferson and received over 200 scholarship offers from colleges across the country to play basketball.

At Rutgers, Sellers was recruited by and played under then-assistant coach and future college basketball legend Dick Vitale. His decision to become a Scarlet Knight was initially criticized as Rutgers was a small, unheralded and independent program at the time

Sellers and Rutgers continued their winning ways in 1974–75, finishing with a 22–7 record and the first NCAA Tournament appearance, losing a first-round game to Louisville 91–78 with Sellers scoring 29 points.

Rutgers took another step in 1975–76. Sellers, a senior and Consensus Second Team All-American, led the team to a 31–0 start, averaging a double-double of 19.2 ppg and 10.2 rpg. The Scarlet Knights advanced to the NCAA Tournament, winning games over Princeton 54–53, Connecticut 93–79, and VMI 91–75 to advance to the Final Four. The team finished 31–2, with their only two losses occurring in the national semifinals, 86–70 to Michigan and then the third-place game to UCLA 106–92.

Professional career After graduating from Rutgers, Sellers was picked in the third round (38th overall) of the 1976 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons. The 6'4" Sellers changed to the guard position, having played forward in college, and struggled with the increased ball-handling responsibilities. Sellers said, "I couldn't play guard. They had doubts. Even me, I had doubts." Sellers spent the year with Detroit, playing the tumultuous 1976-77 Detroit Pistons season with Marvin "Bad News" Barnes, averaging 4.5 ppg in 44 games. He was released prior to the following season.

After his release by Detroit, Sellers played for the Jersey Shore Bullets in the Continental Basketball Association and then for BV Amstelveen in the Netherlands. He tried out for the Pistons again in 1979, under his former assistant coach at Rutgers Dick Vitale, but was cut before the season began.

Personal life Sellers returned to Rutgers as an assistant coach for four years in the 1980s before moving to work in the private sector. Former Rutgers President Dr. Edward J. Bloustein, said of Sellers that he "epitomized and symbolized in ways that people who gain the public eye sometimes do, a movement at Rutgers toward quality and self-assurance. He helped instill a sense of confidence in the university that persists today."

Career statistics

NBA Source

Regular season Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG