‘Last Chance U’ helps Josh Phillips make D-I dreams come true
LOS ANGELES (BVM) — The Netflix series “Last Chance U” has highlighted many athletes and coaches in eight years. In the most recent season of “Last Chance U: Basketball,” Josh Phillips became another fascinating athlete to have his story told.
Phillips’s athletic journey began in California, but the challenges began to mount as he grew up. One hardship he faced early in life was a harsh home environment, which forced him to move to the United Kingdom.
“I didn’t have the smoothest upbringing,” Phillips told Jonathan Jones in the Beyond the Ball with JJ podcast. “The reason I even moved to London, away from family, was because of domestic violence things.”
Phillips lived overseas for a few years until he and his mom moved back to California. Both moved around southern California until Phillips ended up at Edison High School. His basketball talents sprouted there, leading him to the University of Portland, where he chose to major in psychology. Phillips’ skills on the basketball court continued to flourish, and he decided to pursue his basketball dreams. This led him to enroll at East Los Angeles College (ELAC).
Phillips played for ELAC during the 2021-22 season when the cameras of “Last Chance U” arrived on campus.
“It was a little scary,” Phillips told Jones. “I didn’t know how big it was going to be at first when they said Netflix was going to be filming. I thought they might come for a couple of days or a week, but they were there every single day.”
Last Chance U: Season 2 out now on @netflix
I appreciate all the love and support❤️🩹 Thanks to my brother @itsbphilly for putting together this video highlighting my time on the show.#lastchanceu#lastchanceubasketball @lastchanceu @lastchanceualum pic.twitter.com/Wber4YMe9P— Josh Phillips (@Josh2Phillips) December 15, 2022
It was evident throughout the show that Phillips is a talented basketball player. However, with a few unusual outbursts, it becomes clear that he’s dealing with something unordinary, and it’s revealed that he has autism.
“I used to have times in school where I shut down and be in the fetal position out on the playground for two hours,” Phillips told Jones. “I had my hood up, didn’t talk to anybody, and was non-verbal at first. But there have been a lot of things that’ve helped me function better.”
One thing that helped him operate better was getting into sports.
“I tried a lot of different things before basketball,” Phillips told Jones. “I skateboarded, I played soccer [and] just tried to get into some social activity and being able to let out some emotions as well.”
Along with help from various activities, Phillips received support from ELAC head coach John Mosley.
“Don’t be stressed,” Mosley said during the show. “You have a unique situation. I’m very clear with everybody with who you are and what you’re about. We want to make sure you’re comfortable.”
Phillips averaged 3.4 points and 3.2 rebounds during ELAC’s 2021-22 season. Alongside good grades, Phillips was able to attract the attention of DI schools. One of those schools was an HBCU, Grambling State.
“As long as it’s the right program, I don’t care if it’s California, the middle of Tennessee, Vermont, anywhere like that,” Phillips said in the show. “I just want to play basketball and get that degree.”
Phillips is doing just that with the Tigers. Phillips has appeared in 12 games during the 2022-23 season for Grambling.
It’s been a unique journey for Phillips. It appears he is where he wants to be, and he’s excited to be still playing basketball. Now he is motivated to keep playing basketball and continues to prove people wrong.
“At high school, the goals that counselors had for me were being a janitor or a flight attendant,” Phillips said in the show. “They said I shouldn’t play basketball, shouldn’t aim for my high school diploma. I like proving people wrong.”
Everything I went thru made me who I am, cuz he be testing me❤️🩹✝️#SpectrumStrength#LastChanceU #Heavensent #Autism pic.twitter.com/1AGnbzMPay
— Josh Phillips (@Josh2Phillips) January 6, 2023
