When Carter Bryant committed to Arizona last week, the Wildcats picked up a player who could become their first McDonaldβs All-American under coach Tommy Lloyd.
A few days later, it became clear the Wildcats already might have landed another one, too.
Guard Jamari Phillips, a friend and club-ball teammate of Bryantβs who committed to the Wildcats last December, put on the sort of show at the Mesa EYBL session last weekend that suggests he could soon move up from his No. 33 composite ranking in the class of 2024 and into five-star status β which often translates into a McDonaldβs invitation.
While helping Paul George Elite 17U to a 3-1 record last weekend, the 6-3 guard averaged 28.7 points while shooting 62.5% overall and 62.9% from 3-point range over three games. He sat out his teamβs last weekend game, saying he had a sore back.
Phillipsβ weekend scoring average came about despite having βonlyβ 23 points while playing just 16 minutes in one game that PG Elite won by 42.
βI feel like Iβm at a high level confidence-wise,β Phillips said Saturday after scoring 33 points in PG Eliteβs 79-71 loss to Expressions. βI mean, this is my team. Iβve been on this team since eighth grade. I havenβt left. Iβve been rocking them for a minute, man. I mean, I just feel good with this team.β
That much seemed pretty apparent.
βArizona-bound Jamari Phillips goes off,β read a headline from 247 Sports, in which analyst Eric Bossi noted that Phillips was βsizzling hotβ from 3, and when defenders tried to stop his shooting by playing him tightly, used his quickness to his advantage. Phillps made it to the line 10 times over three games, hitting nine free throws.
βIf there were other players in the gym as unguardable as Phillips β who is currently ranked No. 33 but made a pretty convincing case for a bump up the rankings β they were few and far between,β Bossi wrote.
For Phillips, after a bumpy transition in schools during his junior season of high school ball, it was about time.
βI feel like I should blow up to something even more and people should start recognizing my game, getting more familiar with me because I feel like people arenβt as familiar with my game as I think they are,β Phillips said. βI can do a lot of stuff people donβt know about. Thereβs a lot of shooting and theyβre gonna go in. Every shot that I take I feel like itβs gonna go in. And I feel like Iβm a facilitator. I can get my players going as well.β
Phillips didnβt have a chance to prove it much of last season. While heβs a fourth-year veteran at PG Elite, Phillips was a rookie of sorts at AZ Compass Prep last season after transferring in December from Modesto (California) Christian High School while also dealing with a foot injury.
Phillipsβ dad, James, said Jamari tried to play through the pain early in the season but that, after an MRI, a doctor told him to shut it down for a while. It was then that Phillips decided to accept an invitation from AZ Compass Prep director Pete Kaffey to work on his foot and his game.
βPete was just kind of like, `OK, fine, he doesnβt play much for his junior year,β James Phillips said, adding that Kaffey said, βbut if I get him here locked in with me, weβll have him for senior year. I just want him. Whenever I can get him here, I just want him.β
As it turned out, Phillips had an impact late in his junior season, working his way into the AZ Compass rotation.
βLike I told his parents, heβs a kid who should help us right now, which he did,β Kaffey said. βBut whenever youβre coming to that really, really good team, youβve got other good players, and Jamari is a kid who requires shots β¦ youβve got to give him the ball to do his thing.
βFrom a chemistry standpoint, we had it going. We were a top-five team in the country. So he kind of struggled a little bit out of the gate. But he got it going and had some really big games for us.β
Then there were the guys Phillips had to deal with on the other side of the court. While Modesto Christian is a perennial power in Californiaβs Central Valley region, AZ Compass Prep plays a national prep-school schedule, often facing teams loaded with future high-level college players.
βThe biggest change from those two schools is the development piece as a player and the competition that youβre gonna play against every night,β Phillips said. βI mean, youβre just playing against the top dogs every night. Either youβre gonna play a ranked player or a bunch of role players that are really, really good.
βSo you have to really develop your game just to even play on that court. I feel like just being at AZ Compass really helped me help my game and helped my body as well. I feel like more in shape. I feel way stronger. I feel like Iβm bumping people off easier and my shots are falling.β
Still, Kaffey said Phillips wasnβt able to make the sort of volume shots and overall impact at Compass last season as a junior that he has during the first two sessions this spring of EYBL, where Phillips, Bryant and four-star Las Vegas guard Jase Richardson have been PG Eliteβs focal points.
Also, calling Phillips a βreally, really good defenderβ while watching him play in Mesa last weekend, Kaffey said he now is looking forward to having Phillips as a senior next season.
βIβm expecting big things for him,β Kaffey said. βHeβs gonna be given the opportunity to do his thing, to be who he is.β
Maybe also with the sort of perspective that might help Phillips when he finally does arrive at Arizona for the 2024-25 season. The shots and minutes might not be there all the time, at least right away.
βIn his focus and approach, I think Compass has helped him more than anything,β James Phillips said of his son. Last season βwas a little adversity, the first time heβs ever had to sit.
βI think itβs all great preparation. I mean, you get to Arizona and maybe you donβt play. Maybe you have to sit for a while. Who knows what the landscape is gonna be like when you show up? But now youβre used to it.β