Phil George

2006 Honorary Alumnus

 When Phil George joined the San Angelo College coaching staff in 1949, the Board of Directors guaranteed him a job for only six months.  He wound up staying his entire professional career.

Along the way, George tickled everyone with his self-deprecating sense of humor, won a national basketball championship in 1957, became the first full-time athletic director, hired a bevy of winning coaches and was the first inductee into the ASU Athletic Hall of Fame.

An Austin native, George received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees at the University of Texas.  George helped the Longhorn basketball team to two Southwest Conference championships and a third-place finish in the 1947 NCAA tournament. 

He served in the China-Burma-India Theater with the Army Air Corps in World War II and stayed in the U.S. Air Force Reserves until 1970, ultimately serving in Vietnam and retiring as a lieutenant colonel with more than 6,500 pilot hours to his credit.

As a basketball coach between 1949 and 1978, George was at his best, compiling a cumulative 512-274 record and .651 winning percentage.  As a SAC coach, he won eight Pioneer Conference Championships and shared two others.  He claimed five regional titles as well as the 1957 National Junior College Championship with a 31-2 record. 

He was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year in 1957 and conference or regional coach of the year a dozen times.  He stepped down as basketball coach in 1978 but remained athletic director until 1986.

In addition to basketball, George coached track, baseball, golf and the football offensive line.  His players thrived in all sports.  Two of his former players became legends - Grant Teaff went on to become a legendary Southwest Conference head coach at Baylor.  Norm Cash became the 1961 American League Batting Champion. 

Throughout his 37 year career at SAC and ASU, George has shown a devotion to the Blue and Gold and to the San Angelo community.  San Angelo was home and it is where he and Toddy, his wife of 58 years, proudly raised their three children, Jennifer, Judy and Mike.  The George family now includes eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.

George retired from Angelo State University in 1986.  After retirement he was named to the Lone Star Conference Hall of Honor and the NJCAA Hall of Fame.  He is, and always will be, an ASU legend.

The ASU Alumni Association is proud to name Phil George as its 2006 Honorary Alumnus.