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UVU coach Todd Phillips coaches up his team during a timeout of Saturday's WAC championship game versus Cal Baptist. March 14, 2026

Courtesy UVU Photo

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Isaac Davis scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds in the Wolverine's 63-61 loss to Cal Baptist on Saturday. March 14, 2026

Courtesy UVU Photo

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The goal of any coach is to both attract and then to develop the best talent possible in the pursuit of enhancing their respective team’s success and subsequent profile.

Although doing as much can provide a sort of bittersweet result for coaches during this crazy era of wide-open transfer portals with players understandably looking to capitalize on their rare financial opportunities provided.

Just ask Utah Valley men’s basketball coach Todd Phillips, who yet again lost three of his top players to the transfer portal following this past season, much in the same way he did the year before.

“It’s tough because you want every kid you coach to develop and become the best player they can possibly be, but then by doing that, you’re probably going to lose your best players,” Phillips said. “I’m used to it coming from coaching (in junior college), and you’re happy for those guys and their opportunities you’ve helped provide, but then it’s tough to replace them. So yeah, it’s bittersweet for sure.”

Phillips has fared well for the Wolverines since being named the program’s head men’s basketball coach prior to the 2023-24 season, although doing as much has come with some unanticipated attrition.

In his second season he coached UVU to a 25-9 overall record and then lost what could well be considered his top three players in Tanner Toolson, who transferred to TCU, Dominick Nelson (Iowa State) and Carter Welling (Clemson.) This past season he matched the same mark of 25 wins against just nine losses and had to bid farewell to Jackson Holcombe, Trevan Leonhardt, and Tyler Hendricks, who transferred to Utah, Nebraska and Oklahoma, respectively.

“What makes it tough is how you plan your recruiting,” Phillips said. “You have a guy like Jackson last year, and we thought he was going to be a really good player for us, but he exceeded just about everyone’s expectations with the great year he had. So you weren’t necessarily planning on having to replace him now this year, but you have to replace not only him, but then Trevan, who has been in the program for four years — they’re gone now. I’m happy for them, and I completely understand it, but then replacing them isn’t something you planned for, but you have to do it. That’s just the way it is and you deal with it the best you can.”

The good news for Phillips is he’s very much on schedule, or even ahead of schedule in replacing all three players and fielding a roster he believes will prove competitive for the coming season. All 15 roster spots were accounted for by early June while Phillips and his staff have already begun the process of evaluating and working to attract talent for the 2027-28 season in the never-ending recruiting process.

So what will UVU present this coming season?

It perhaps starts with the Isaacs, specifically Isaac Davis (6-foot-8 forward) and Isaac Welling (6-10 forwad), both of whom provided solid play from both the low-post and on the perimeter last season.

“We believe both will be much, much better this season,” Phillips said. “This next year will be both of their second years in the program and that’s when you typically see a lot of improvement, so we’re excited about both of them and what they can do and improve on from last season.”

Other key players returning are guards Braden Housely and Sherman Weatherspoon, although the biggest impacts made may come from 6-5 guard AJ Dixon, who sat out the entirety of last season due to injury.

“He would have started for us last year and probably would have been our leading scorer,” Phillips said of Dixon. “So having him back and healthy should be big for us and we return a lot of guys who played minutes last season, which is what you want going into any season.”

Another key addition is newly-hired assistant coach Andrew May, who will work as the team’s offensive coordinator after leaving Snow College where he served as that program’s head coach.

“He’s done a tremendous job at Snow and he’s a really smart coach, and he’s very creative in what he does,” Phillips said. “We’ve had a relationship and he was with me at Salt Lake Community College and when he became available, he was my top target to try to get to join our staff here. He’s gonna be a great addition for us. He knows the landscape of this area really well, and so you know if you look at our staff, it’s kind of the first ‘Utah guy’ I have, so I think that’s going to be a big addition.”

Overall the goal will be to continue UVU’s tradition of winning while reaching new heights — perhaps specifically achieving an invite to the NCAA Tournament, a prospect which narrowly alluded Phillips’ team last season. This time UVU will attempt to make its way via play in the Big West Conference after making the switch over from the WAC Conference after last season.

“It’s a challenge we’re excited about,” Phillips concluded. “You’re never satisfied and you welcome new challenges, and we’ll have a whole new set of teams to have to prepare for, so that will be a challenge. But I like our culture here and we’re excited about who we’re returning and who we have coming back.”