The first big win of the Mike Stoops era for Arizona football came yesterday, when senior tackle Brandon Phillips was granted a rare sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.
Phillips, a 6-foot-8 310-pounder, was granted an eligibility extension after spending weeks in limbo, rehabbing his knee and taking the maximum class load.
"I was, I guess, just relieved," Phillips said, laughing. "It's been a stressful ordeal just because I've been putting in a lot of hours, taking 18 units of classes, waking up at 5 a.m. every morning to go through workouts ÷ all the time not knowing if I would even get to play."
Because of his agreement with an agent, Phillips will have to miss three games, or 30 percent of the UA's season, and pay back $100 in restitution for the services he received. The Wildcats open with Division I-AA Northern Arizona, Utah and Wisconsin this fall and play 11 regular-season games in all.
"I'm not upset about it because, like I said, I thought I wasn't going to get to play at all," Phillips said about having to miss a portion of the schedule. "I'm going to try and make the most of it. I still have all my Pac-10 games."
Phillips thought his eligibility was up, as the NCAA normally gives student athletes five years to complete four years of athletics. A meeting with Stoops, Arizona's new head coach, ended up rectifying mistakes by former head coach John Mackovic's staff. The old staff thought Phillips would not be allowed to come back.
"Originally, I had thought my college playing days were over," Phillips said. "The second week of school, I had come down just to clean out my locker, and one of the old recruiting coordinators grabbed me and asked if I wanted to meet the new coach, and I said, ÎYeah, sure.'"
After introducing himself to Stoops and explaining his situation, Stoops asked Phillips if he wanted to come back.
"I told him I had looked into that, and he told me I had the wrong information," Phillips said.
Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jason White, from Stoops' previous school of Oklahoma, was also given a sixth year recently.
"He never mentioned that to me, and he didn't know a lot about the process personally. He did know what the basic requirements were," Phillips said. "Once he in his mind felt I had met the basic requirements, he just got on top of it as far as getting me in contact with Bill Morgan, the compliance director."
Morgan said he didn't know how often a sixth year is given.
"We haven't had five or six (instances) in the last 10 years," he said.
A native of Chandler, Phillips was considered the UA's top senior pro prospect last fall before being injured in a 48-10 loss to Oregon.
Because of the injury, Phillips had to miss the postseason all-star games and the NFL Combine as well as the rest of Arizona's 2-10 season. Had the NCAA taken any longer to decide, Phillips would have had to choose whether to participate in the UA's NFL timing day tomorrow and risk his eligibility status.
Phillips was hoping to be picked on the second day of the draft or sign with a team as an undrafted free agent if not given a second chance at Arizona.
"There were some teams that were showing interest, but my draft stock had gone down significantly," Phillips said.
Phillips, who went to Tempe's Corona del Sol High School, also injured his knee and head during his redshirt freshman season. To get a sixth year, a player has to miss most of two seasons for medical reasons "beyond their control," Morgan said.
Phillips had started 12 of the UA's 15 games before his injury and won the Coach's Recognition Award for outstanding performance and team leadership by a senior.
"It's a great development for Brandon and a great development for our football team," Stoops stated in a press release. "Brandon's leadership will be a key for our team in its first season as a new program."
New offensive coordinator Mike Canales said he was excited by what he saw of Phillips on tape.
"I think what it does is it instantly brings a lot of leadership back to the (offense). ... You want to have as many seniors as you can to take that role of leadership on the field," Canales said. "I think that's the first impact he'll have ÷ his leadership qualities."
Phillips had to take 18 credits this semester because he was forced to drop all his classes last semester while bedridden in his Chandler home after the injury. He will be four credits short of graduating after this semester.
Phillips is expected to be limited in spring practice later this month because of his rehab, but he expects to be at full strength by summer workouts.