BOSTON, Ma. — Utah Valley head men's basketball coach Todd Phillips has been named a finalist for the 2025-26 Hugh Durham Award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major head coach in Division I men's basketball. The finalists were announced Thursday by CollegeInsider.com.
Phillips has guided Utah Valley to a 23-7 overall record and a 13-4 mark in Western Athletic Conference play this season, leading the Wolverines to a second straight WAC regular season championship. With the title, Phillips becomes the first head coach in program history to lead Utah Valley to back-to-back WAC regular season championships.
Under Phillips' leadership, Utah Valley has secured the No. 1 seed at next week's WAC Tournament in Las Vegas and will receive a bye directly into the tournament semifinals. The Wolverines will wrap up the regular season on Saturday night at Utah Tech.
Now in his third season as head coach, Phillips has compiled a 64-32 overall record at Utah Valley and owns a 39-14 record in WAC play. He has led the Wolverines to two WAC regular season titles in his first three seasons at the helm.
Phillips was also named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award last season after guiding Utah Valley to a 25-9 overall record and a dominant 15-1 mark in WAC play. The Wolverines earned the No. 1 seed in the 2025 WAC Tournament and advanced to the championship game for the first time in program history before earning a bid to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
The Hugh Durham Award is presented annually to the top mid-major head coach in Division I college basketball and is named after legendary coach Hugh Durham, who built nationally prominent programs at Florida State, Georgia and Jacksonville. The winner of the award will be announced in Indianapolis at the site of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
Phillips joined the Utah Valley program in 2019 as an assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach and later head coach in 2023. Prior to arriving at UVU, he spent eight seasons as the head coach at Salt Lake Community College, where he compiled a 205-58 record and led the Bruins to the 2016 NJCAA National Championship.
