Phil Ford: An All-American but not a 'celebrity'

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 18, 2016 1:49 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Media writers and basketball organizations constantly showered Phil Ford with honors throughout his career at the University of North Carolina.

Ford didn't consider himself a celebrity then.

He doesn't now.

Instead, the Rocky Mount native remembers the lessons he learned off the court from his former high school basketball coach Reggie Henderson, former high school baseball coach Jerry Carter and of course, the late Dean E. Smith.

Each influenced Ford in their own way, but the humble guard who led the Tar Heels to a national runner-up finish in 1977, remembers learning how to play unselfish and how to respect the person who stood across from you on the court.

"Not being selfish is really important and have respect in someone else for who they are and what they are," Ford said. "I think on a field of competition or a court, you have to respect people. I think it's extremely important for all of us to respect each other. We're all, in the eyes of God, equal."

It's a lesson Ford shares in his daily life.

A member of the National Association Basketball Coaches (NABC) Hall of Fame, the humble and modest Ford is involved with two companies. One allows Ford to tour the country to speak with different companies, civic groups and kids in elementary, middle and high school.

Ford offers private lessons to future basketball players.

"That's the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life and that's really cool," Ford said. "The look that you see on a kid's face, let's say a second-grader who is a right-hander, but finally shoots a left-handed layup. Money can't pay for that."

The second company is Human Centric Performance. Ford and a family member are designing a mouthpiece that takes an athlete's core temperature in real time competition. The two are working through various sources to help get the project off the ground.

Finally, there is the Phil Ford Foundation that raises money to address the awareness, treatment and research for childhood obesity. Ford's organization is tied into the N.C. Children's Hospital and UNC Department of Pediatrics. He works with a renowned specialist -- Dr. Eliana Perrin, M.D./MPH -- who is devoted to eliminating the debilitating disease that can create further complications in life.

"We had googled 'childhood obesity' and found her right here in Chapel Hill," Ford said. "I guess some things are meant to be."

Ford never meant to be a basketball player.

His father was a son of a sharecropper who had aspirations of playing sports, but never got the opportunity. Ford would either attend minor league baseball games at the old Municipal Stadium, or tag along with his dad to a football or basketball game.

Ford eventually blossomed into a three-sport athlete while at RMSH.

Baseball was his first love.

However, basketball took Ford to new heights he never expected.

Not the fleetest of foot or blessed with the athletic ability some of his teammates possessed, Ford played the game with a passion and desire that no other athlete shared with him on the court.

Ford helped lead the Tar Heels to three Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championships and two tournament crowns. He was named the ACC and national player-of-the-year in 1978, earned All-American recognition on three occasions and was voted one of the top 10 males in ACC history.

The list of Ford's accomplishments is undoubtedly lengthy. He attributes his success to every single coach who took him under their wing and to every teammate who played with him on the basketball court. Ford especially gushed over Smith, whom he considers the greatest coach in the game.

"He knew what it took (to succeed) and I just don't think there was anyone better than him who did that," Ford said. "I'm not the greatest athlete in the world. (But) I don't think anybody was going to try harder than me and try to do exactly what the coach said more than me.

"Those are the two things I've tried to do my entire career."

With celebrity status never a goal.