Remembering Phil Sellers, the GOAT of Rutgers Basketball

Rutgers basketball icon Phil "the Thrill" Sellers did something special when he became one of the NCAA Tournament's first marquee names. Sellers wasn't among the first basketballers to compete in what is now known as March Madness, but his Rutgers squad helped to give the NCAA championship tourney legitimacy, propelling the event over the National Invitational Tournament in a popularity contest between the brands.

In other words, college hoops fans can thank Sellers for the spectacle that they enjoy every spring. If it wasn't for such great players taking their talents to the NCAA instead of the NIT in the 1970s, who knows if there would be a consensus national champ in modern-day. But the viewers of college hoops should pay tribute to Sellers for more than his postseason exploits, especially if they're Scarlet Knights fanatics.

Sellers was recruited and coached by Dick Vitale, drafted by the Detroit Pistons, and honored with a jersey retirement by a Rutgers program which had raftered just one other cager when No. 12 was retired in 1988. The New York native's failure in professional basketball is more of an indictment of stubborn NBA coaches in his era than a reflection of missing talent. Scroll for a look back at Phil Sellers' career in New Brunswick.

Sellers was so electrifying as a Rutgers freshman that his opponents needed "a T.O., baby." Vitale's presence as an assistant coach helped lure the Thomas Jefferson High phenom to the Scarlet Knights in the fall of 1972. The 6-foot-4 Sellers flourished instantly as a small forward, averaging 19.5 points per game and posting a 30-point performance to hand opposing coach John Thompson his first loss with the Georgetown Hoyas.

Rutgers won 40 games in Sellers' first two seasons as a potent scoring leader for the Scarlet Knights. The squad still showed few signs of the overall excellence that would lead them to Final Four glory in two years.

Rutgers took the bold step of accepting an NCAA tourney bid following a 22-7 season in 1975. Despite falling in the first round that postseason, Sellers' squad was tapped to return to the growing event with an unbeaten record in the spring of 1976. The upperclassman produced double-doubles all campaign as the Scarlet Knights ran their overall record to 30-0, reaching the NCAA Final Four before losing to Michigan. 

Sellers was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press in 1976.

Sellers did not flourish as a pro after getting drafted by the Pistons. Golden State's successful small-ball tactics were decades in the future, in addition to the modern game's FIBA-style action that utilizes small forwards and big shooting guards. As a result, NBA teams didn't see much use for a 6-foot-4 frontcourt cager of any variety, instead drafting Sellers with the hope that he would develop as a guard. 

That didn't happen. Sellers' performances were shaky throughout his rookie season as a guard in Motor City. He scored merely 4.5 PPG in 44 contests. Even when Sellers returned to play for the newest Pistons head coach Dick Vitale in 1979, Vitale was forced to cut his favorite Rutgers athlete before the season.

Sellers' failure to stick with any team in his brief minor-league career helped to show that his special talent was misused by pro basketball coaches. In normal circumstances, an ex-NBA player in his mid-20s would be considered a catch to be coddled by a team like Sellers' Jersey Shore Bullets of the Continental Basketball Association, or at the forward's other short dabble, Kimzo Amstelveen. But it took the advancement of basketball strategy, not one maverick coach, for small forwards to find their place in the game. 

Like a movie hero, Sellers returned to his favorite arena and stepped out from behind the curtain to massive applause. The Thrill took a role as a Rutgers men's basketball assistant coach after retiring as a player in 1980. Sellers' renewed presence helped the Scarlet Knights grow accustomed to playing in bigger and bigger conferences, from the Atlantic-10 of Sellers' coaching era to the truly big Big Ten of today.

Records are unclear as to Sellers' exact years of coaching at Rutgers. Most sources claim that he was on the Scarlet Knights bench for four seasons in the 1980s, while others state that he was on the staff for just three seasons. Not even Rutgers University's public documents tell the year when Sellers rejoined the men's basketball team as an assistant coach, nor do they list the offseason in which he left the staff.

It couldn't have been a sour parting of the ways. It wasn't long before Sellers' number 12 was retired in a celebration that fans remember to this day. Sellers entered the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993 and was voted into the New York Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. 

Phil "the Thrill" Sellers passed away on Sept. 20, 2023, at the age of 69.