Former NIC men’s basketball coach Phay takes coaching job at NJCAA Missouri State-West Plains
Phay
Former NIC men’s basketball coach takes coaching job at NJCAA Missouri State-West Plains
In his 15 years as a men’s basketball coach at the college level, Jared Phay has led teams all around the state of Idaho.
After stints at North Idaho College and the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Phay was named coach at NJCAA Missouri State-West Plains, the school announced on Wednesday.
“I’m really excited,” Phay told The Press in a phone interview. “It’s a new challenge in a new part of the country.”
Phay was the head coach at North Idaho College for 10 years, going 221-94 in that span. He was named Region 18 Coach of the Year three times at NIC, and won Scenic West Athletic Conference championships in 2006, 2009 and 2010. The last seven years as head coach at North Idaho he posted 20 wins or more. In 2010-11, Phay led the Cardinals to their first No. 1 national ranking in school history, from Nov. 23, 2010 to Jan. 4, 2011.
After departing NIC, Phay led CSI to a 136-33 record and three appearances in the NJCAA Tournament, including a runner-up finish in 2018.
“I really wanted to get back into the junior college level,” Phay said. “But I wanted everything to align and be in a good place to raise my family. This is the one that everything aligned and I think the basketball can be really good there.”
Phay, 43, was an assistant coach at Idaho State for the 2019-20 season before leaving the program in February.
“It was hard after being a head coach for 15 years,” said Phay, who joined the staff of Ryan Looney, a former NIC assistant who was named Bengals head coach. “We were good friends, and it just didn’t work out. After a while, it was mutual for us to go our separate ways and do separate things.”
Phay interviewed for the position at West Plains in early March, just before on-campus visits were stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“They opened the position a month ago, then paused the search when things got crazy,” Phay said. “They got things rolling again a couple of weeks ago, and they called and offered me the job. I’m excited. I think it’s a good spot, and similar to CSI in a few different ways.”
In Phay’s final year at CSI, the Golden Eagles beat Missouri State-West Plains 118-91 in a 2018 tournament.
Phay’s previous coaching experience includes two seasons as head coach at Falls Christian Academy in Post Falls, one season as a grad assistant at Idaho, one season as an assistant at Motlow State Community College in Tullahoma, Tenn., and one season as an assistant at NIC under Hugh Watson.
Phay replaces Chris Popp, who resigned after four seasons. The Grizzlies finished 10-21 last season.
“The Grizzly Athletics program is excited to welcome Coach Phay and his family to West Plains,” said Dr. Angela Totty, dean of student services and athletic director, in a news release. “We were looking for a strong leader with proven success on the court and to help our young men graduate in preparation for their next step. Coach Phay has demonstrated his ability to recruit and retain players who can achieve at a high level. I believe Grizzly fans are going to have a lot to cheer about in the coming years.”