It may sound shocking to some, but former UCF Knights player Tari Phillips is the only player in the school’s history who ever played 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 one 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 steal defensively.
The WNBA did not start play until 1997. Phillips played basketball when the American Basketball League existed from 1996-1998 as a member of the Seattle Reign and Colorado Xplosion. The league eventually folded after 1998, but Phillips was an All-Star for the league in 1997 and 1998.
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1999 would be Phillips’ first season in the WNBA, and she was eventually drafted eighth overall by the Orlando Miracle in that year’s draft. Being drafted by Orlando seemed like a dream for Phillips, since it was her hometown. However, Phillips’ one season in Orlando went rough.
Phillips averaged 4.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while playing 32 games, and not starting any of them. After her first WNBA season in 1999, Phillips joined the New York Liberty for the 2000 season. It was in New York where Phillips’ career took off.
Phillips made an incredible leap in one year by 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 turned into 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 by Phillips, where she averaged a career-high 15.1 points per game on her way to making another All-Star Game. In 2002, she was an All-Star again and made the All-WNBA Second Team. 2002 saw her help the Liberty make the WNBA Finals, but the team fell in the Finals again, this time to the Sparks.
In each year from 2000-2002, Phillips finished in the top 10 in WNBA MVP voting.
In 2003, Phillips made the All-Star Game for the fourth consecutive year. In 2004, she played her final season with the Liberty, appearing in just 13 games. After 2004, Phillips left to join the Comets. Phillips finished her Liberty career by averaging 13 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in 141 games with the franchise.
Phillips played three seasons in Houston, but she was nowhere near the player she used to be. Phillips never averaged over 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’ Liberty legacy was remembered when the team inducted her into the team’s Ring of Honor. Phillips earned the respect she deserved from the Liberty, as she helped the team reach the WNBA Finals twice. Phillips got emotional when she was inducted into the Liberty’s Ring of Honor.
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* Emma Cannon also played at UCF and is a current player with the Los Angeles Sparks but transferred later on to Florida Southern for her final college basketball season in 2010-11.
