This may come as a shock to some, but former UCF Knights player Tari Phillips is the only player in school history to ever play in the WNBA*.
Phillips only played one season at UCF in 1990-91 after playing her first three seasons with the Georgia Bulldogs, but she was a stud in her only season at UCF. Phillips averaged 25.3 points and 12.4 rebounds per game to lead the TAAC in both categories, and also added two blocks and a defensive steal.
The WNBA did not begin play until 1997. Phillips played basketball when the American Basketball League existed from 1996 to 1998 as a member of the Seattle Reign and Colorado Xplosion. The league eventually folded after 1998, but Phillips was a league All-Star in 1997 and 1998.
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1999 would be Phillips’ first season in the WNBA, and she was ultimately drafted eighth overall by Orlando Miracle in that year’s draft. Being drafted by Orlando seemed like a dream for Phillips, since it was his hometown. However, Phillips’ season in Orlando was difficult.
Phillips averaged 4.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while playing in 32 games and starting none. After her first WNBA season in 1999, Phillips joined the New York Liberty for the 2000 season. It was in New York that Phillips’ career took off.
Phillips made an incredible leap in one year averaging 13.8 points and 8 rebounds per game in her first season in New York and was named an All-Star and the league’s most improved player. She was the first-ever player to be named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player and became a consistent starter in the lineup in New York. With Phillips, the Liberty reached the 2000 WNBA Finals but fell to the Houston Comets.
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2001 saw another excellent season from Phillips, where she averaged a career-high 15.1 points per game en route to another All-Star Game. In 2002, she was an All-Star again and made the All-WNBA second team. In 2002, she helped the Liberty advance to the WNBA Finals, but the team fell in the Finals again, this time to the Sparks.
Every year from 2000 to 2002, Phillips finished in the top 10 in WNBA MVP voting.
In 2003, Phillips appeared in the All-Star Game for the fourth consecutive year. In 2004, she played her final season with the Liberty, playing in only 13 games. After 2004, Phillips left to join the Comets. Phillips finished his Liberty career averaging 13 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in 141 games with the franchise.
Phillips played three seasons in Houston, but she was far from the player she once was. Phillips never averaged more than 4 points per game in a season as a Comet. She last played in 2007. After the Comets waived her, she retired.
In August 2025, Phillips’ legacy on Liberty was remembered when the team inducted her into the team’s ring of honor. Phillips earned the respect she deserved from the Liberty, helping the team reach the WNBA Finals twice. Phillips became emotional when she was inducted into Liberty’s Ring of Honor.
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*Emma Cannon also played at UCF and is currently a player for the Los Angeles Sparks, but later transferred to Florida Southern for her final season of college basketball in 2010-11.
