NCAA Division I rules prohibit Phillips from playing in the 1995-96 season, but grant her three years of eligibility at SIUC. However, she will be able to practice and travel with the team this season.

SIUC women’s head coach Cindy Scott said Phillips has an abundance of potential to add to the Salukis.

Jessie is an excellent shooter with tremendous potential, she said. She was a prolific scorer in high school, and will develop into a fine shooting guard at the college level once she’s had a chance to log some significant minutes.

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Chief recruiter for women’s basketball, Julie Beck, said Phillips was one player she tried to recruit out of high school, but was unable to sign.

In 93 we watched her at summer camps, and recruited her pretty hard, along with Florida International. She was probably one of the better shooters we saw, she said. Her high school coach indicated to us that she was looking to go to Florida and get away, so we were unable to sign her out of high school.

Last season at FIU, Phillips found little playing time on a talented senior team. She averaged only eight minutes a game, but was the team’s second-best three-point shooter (.333, 12-36). She also hit three three-pointers in a game against Southern University.

FIU Women’s basketball head coach Cindy Russo said Phillips is the kind of player every team should have, but was sad to see her transfer.

She loves the game very, very much, she’s fearless and very offensively oriented, she said. I think she was a little homesick, and she was a freshman on a very talented team, we’ll miss her.

Beck said that Phillips called SIUC about transferring here, and she excited about having Phillips on the team for the 1996-97 season.

She called us, and were looking forward to her being a good shooter, she said. She played the three on three format in high school before Iowa switched over, and I think that type of play puts an emphasis on shooting. We’ve run into some of those great shooters at Drake, who are a product of that format.

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Phillips played her high school basketball at Sigourney High School in southeast Iowa. During those years, she was a four-time First team all-conference pick, and set the school record with 2,411 career points. Her senior year, she averaged 19 points per game with seven rebounds, was second in the state in three point shooting (3.17 FGpg), and was named first team all-state by the Des Moines Register, the Iowa Newspaper Association and Iowa Athletic Coaches Association.

As a high school junior, Phillips was southeast Iowa’s top scorer averaging 36 points per game, and a First Team All-District honoree. She was the Southeast IBCA free throw champion, and won the state IBCA three-point shooting contest . She was also the starting guard for the Iowa Lady All-Stars.

Phillips declined to comment.