Hall of Fame QHS basketball player Gary Phillips passes away at age of 85

QUINCY — Gary Phillips didn’t return to his roots often, but when he did, the Quincy High School Hall of Fame basketball player was treated with legendary status.

Even if he shied away from it.

A star for the Blue Devils in the 1950s who became an All-American at the University of Houston and played six seasons in the NBA, Phillips returned to Quincy during the winter of 2008 for the first time in decades. He made his way to Blue Devil Gym to see QHS play Hinsdale South when an unexpected twist happened.

Adam Walton, who was the Blue Devil mascot that season, deviated from his usual routine, stopping in front of the Hinsdale South bench to salute Phillips, who was sitting with friends seven rows off the floor.

“It is pretty special,” Phillips humbly said at the time.

Phillips, a 1957 QHS graduate who was a charter member of the Quincy Blue Devil Sports Hall of Fame, passed away January 26 in Austin, Texas, according to the Houston Chronicle. He was 85.

A 6-foot-3 forward, Phillips helped the Blue Devils go 27-6 during the 1955-56 and reach the state quarterfinals, where they suffered a loss to Edwardsville. He averaged 15.7 points per game. As a senior, Phillips averaged 23.9 points, made 173 free throws and was named to the Chicago Daily News all-state team as Quincy finished 15-13.

He is one of 24 players in program history with 1,000 or more career points, having scored 1,224 points during three seasons on the varsity. His 671 points scored as a senior is the seventh high single-season total in program history.

Phillips was recruited to the University of Houston by legendary coach Guy Lewis and was named a second-team All-American as a junior during the 1959-60 season. He became the Cougars’ first player to earn first-team All-American honors as a senior in 1960-61. He scored 1,452 points in his Houston career and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Honor in 1972.

Drafted in the first round of the 1961 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics — No. 9 overall — Phillips won an NBA championship as a rookie, but his contract was sold to the San Francisco Warriors in 1962. He spent the next four seasons with the Warriors, retiring after the 1966 season.

He returned to Houston and was a successful real estate broker\ until his retirement.