Newly minted Fordham Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Magpayo has made the first official addition to his coaching staff, welcoming Derrick Phelps as an assistant coach.
Phelps, a 1993 national champion at North Carolina under Dean Smith and a former McDonald’s All-American at Christ the King, made his college coaching debut at Rose Hill, serving as the Rams’ video coordinator in 2010-11.
“Coach Phelps brings a championship pedigree and learned under the tutelage of the great Dean Smith,” said Magpayo. “We will benefit greatly from his wisdom as well as his New York City roots to lead the way!”
Another member of the Kyle Smith coaching tree, Phelps worked with Magpayo at The University of San Francisco in 2017-18.
Phelps first linked up with Smith at Columbia, where he was the Lions’ associate head coach from 2014-16. During his last season in Morningside Heights, Phelps helped guide Columbia to a 25-10 record, including a 10-4 mark in the Ivy League, and a CIT Championship. The Lions’ third-place showing in the Ivy League that season marked the program’s highest finish since 1999-2000 and its first 10-win Ivy League campaign since 1992-93.
From Columbia, Phelps followed Smith to the University of San Francisco, where the Dons won 20 or more games in each of his three seasons on staff and made back-to-back CBI appearances. Phelps mentored six All-WCC selections in his three years on staff at USF.
From 2019-22, Phelps served on Smith’s staff at Washington State, helping the Cougars finish .500 or better in each of his three seasons in Pullman. In his final season with Washington State in 2021-22, Phelps guided the Cougars to a 22-15 overall record, an 11-9 Pac-12 mark and an appearance in the semifinals of the NIT at Madison Square Garden.
Phelps returned to the East Coast as a special assistant at Monmouth before heading to Marist in 2023-24. He helped the Red Foxes finish 18-13 with a 12-8 showing in the MAAC, the program’s second-winning record in conference play since 2009.
This past season, Phelps joined the staff at LIU, guiding the Sharks to a 17-16 record, a 10-win improvement from the previous campaign. The Sharks went 12-4 in NEC play to finish second in the league standings after winning just seven conference games combined in the previous two seasons.
Following his lone season at Fordham in 2010-11, Phelps joined the staff of his former North Carolina teammate, King Rice, at Monmouth from 2011-14. While at Monmouth, Phelps aided in the development of two-time MAAC Player of the Year Justin Robinson, a 2,000-point scorer for the Hawks.
A Second Team All-ACC pick in 1994, Phelps played in two Final Fours for the Tar Heels and went 114-27 (.809) during his four years in Chapel Hill. At the time of his graduation, he was the only player in ACC history to amass 600 assists, 400, rebounds and 200 steals. Through the 2024-25 season, his 247 steals are still a Carolina career record. He also owns the program’s single-game steals record, logging nine thefts on Feb. 9, 1992, against Georgia Tech. His 637 assists rank fifth on the Carolina all-time list behind only Ed Cota, Kenny Smith, Phil Ford and Raymond Felton.
Derrick Phelps joins Fordham Basketball Staff
