Phil Sayers recently completed his 12th season with the Grand Valley State women's basketball program. After spending the first three seasons as an assistant coach, Sayers was promoted to Associate Head Coach shortly after the 2014-15 campaign.
Sayers is responsible for guard development, offensive breakdowns, and game preparation. He also serves as the team's recruiting coordinator.
The 2024-25 season was a historic season for the Lakers. They posted a 38-2 overall record and went 19-1 in the GLIAC. They swept both the GLIAC regular season and Tournament Championships. Once in the NCAA Tournament, the Lakers won the Regional crown, then the second National Championship in program history. GVSU led the country in bench points per game and scoring margin, while ranking in the top-10 in scoring offense, field goal percentage, assist-to-turnover ratio, assists per game, turnover margin, rebound margin, scoring defense, steals per game, and three-pointers per game. Five Lakers earned All-Conference honors, with Rylie Bisballe being named the league's Player and Defensive Player of the Year. MacKenzie Bisballe was the league's Freshman of the Year, with Abrie Cabana, Nicole Kamin, and Ellie Droste also earning honors. Sayers helped lead the offense that set a new program record by averaging 83 points per game. He was named the WBCA Division II National Assistant Coach of the Year.
During the 2023-24 year, GVSU went 31-3 and won the GLIAC regular season and conference championships to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth consecutive season. Under Sayers, the Laker offense scored over 73 points per game and ranked in the top-20 nationally in field goal percentage. They were also top-15 in both fewest turnovers per game and assist-to-turnover ratio. Five Lakers were named All-GLIAC, with Rylie Bisballe named Player of the Year, as well as All-American honors.
The 2022-23 season saw the Lakers sweep the GLIAC regular season and conference tournament titles, achieving a 31-3 record and an eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Sayers guided an offense that scored over 75 points per game and was top 15 in the nation in both field goal percentage and three point percentage. Five players earned GLIAC All-Conference honors, with guard Emily Spitzley earning All-American and All-Region honors as well.
During the 2021-22 season, GVSU went 31-3, earning a seventh consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament where they made a run to the Final Four. GVSU won the GLIAC regular season title and the Midwest Regional title. Five Lakers were named to the GLIAC All-Conference teams, with Emily Spitzley, Ellie Droste, and Rylie Bisballe all earning First-Team honors.
The 2020-21 season was a shortened GLIAC-only schedule, but the Lakers finished 14-4 in the regular season and won the GLIAC South Division crown. GVSU earned a sixth straight NCAA Tournament bid despite beginning the season with no players who had started a game in a Laker uniform. Emily Spitzley and Hannah Kulas emerged from a reserve role to All-GLIAC First Team players under the guidance of Coach Sayers.
The 2019-20 season saw the Lakers make their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, however due to COVID-19, the tournament was canceled. GVSU finished 28-3 on the season and was ranked as high as third in the WBCA Top-25 poll. Senior Cassidy Boensch finished her career as a D2CCA Second Team All-American, back-to-back GLIAC Player of the Year, and back-to-back D2CCA First Team All-Midwest Region. Under Sayers guidance, the Au. Gres, Mich. native went from seeing 10 minutes per game as a freshman, to an All-American. Senior guard Jenn DeBoer earned her second straight All-GLIAC First Team honor, while also becoming the 26th player in program history to surpass the 1,000 point mark. Senior guard Victoria Hedemark, who was a two-time All-GLIAC Defensive Team honoree, also contributed significantly on the offensive end, setting the single-season record for three-point percentage (45.6%) in the school's history. Senior forward Maddie Dailey also earned All-GLIAC First Team honors, improving upon her All-GLIAC Second Team honor the previous season. The Hastings, Mich. native averaged 12.3 pts and 5.5 reb per game.
In 2018-19, GVSU won their first GLIAC Regular Season Title since 2006-07 after completing the GLIAC season with a 19-1 record and finishing the season 29-4 overall. The Lakers made their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and fell to #1 and undefeated Drury, 51-44, in the Midwest Regional Championship game. Cassidy Boesnch was named GLIAC Player of the Year, averaging a double-double (19.6 pts, 11.6 reb), while also being named D2CCA All-Midwest Region First Team and WBCA All-American Honorable Mention. Boensch became the 25th player in program history to surpass the 1,000 point mark. Sayers also helped junior guard Jenn DeBoer earn All-GLIAC First Team and D2CCA All-Midwest Region Second Team honors after averaging 13.9 pts including 58 made three pointers. DeBoer also finished the season with the third highest free-throw percentage in the program's history, shooting 88.9% from the line.
The 2017-18 season resulted in another NCAA Tournament appearance for the Lakers, finishing with a 26-7 record, and the emergence of sophomore Cassidy Boensch. Under Sayers guidance, Boensch went from a role player to one of the conference's best.. The Au. Gres, Mich. native shot 66.0% from the field, which ranked third in DII, and led the team in scoring (13.1) and rebounding (7.1). Boensch also earned four GLIAC Player of the Week honors, a USBWA National Player of the Week award, All-GLIAC Tournament Team, and Midwest Regional Tournament Team. Junior forward Taylor Parmley earned All-GLIAC First Team honors after averaging 11.9 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, and shot 48.6% from the field.
In 2016-17, the Lakers made their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, finishing the season 24-8. GVSU had a an extremely balanced scoring attack with five players averaging at least 8.9 points per game, led by senior Janae Langs 10.5 points per game, who also earned All-GLIAC First Team honors and was named the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament Team. Senior Piper Tucker became the 24th player in the program's history to surpass the 1,000 point mark en route to earning All-GLIAC Second Team laurels. Tucker shot 84.2% from the charity stripe, while freshman Jenn DeBoer connected on 88.9% at the line.
With Sayers running the offense during the 2015-16 campaign, the Lakers had the fourth highest scoring offense in the GLIAC, averaging 71.6 points per game on their way to a second consecutive 20+ win season. Additionally, the Lakers were fifth in the conference in field goal percentage (43.3) and third in three-point percentage (37 percent) while shooting a GLIAC high 878 three point attempts and making a conference best 325 of them, which was the third highest total in all of Division II women’s basketball.
Under Sayers’ offense, junior forward Kayla Dawson had a breakout season, averaging 14.6 points per game and becoming the 23rd Laker in program history to eclipse the 1,000 career points plateau. Dawson was also named an All-GLIAC First Team selection while classmate Piper Tucker earned Second Team honors. Under Sayers, forwards Lindsay Baker and Bailey Cairnduff had the most and third most made three pointers in a single season in program history, respectively, as Baker finished with 77, eclipsing the previous high of 73, and Cairnduff netted 70 to take third on the list. Baker also finished with the second highest three point shooting percentage for a season (45 %) in program history.
In 2014-15, GVSU's improved offense helped the program post its first 20-win campaign since the 2010-11 season. As a team, the Lakers averaged 69.2 points per game, their highest scoring average since the 2005-06 campaign. Under Sayers' tutelage, Kayla Dawson developed into an All-GLIAC Second Team honoree, while junior guard Brionna Barnett earned an All-GLIAC First Team laurel. Additionally, Kat LaPrairie departed as GVSU's all-time leader in 3-point field goal percentage (40.4) after working with Sayers for three seasons.
In 2013-14, Sayers helped Dani Crandall earn All-GLIAC First Team honors. Additionally, Crandall was one of only 11 Division II players to average 14 points, six rebounds, two assists per game and shoot at least 50 percent from the field. Kayla Dawson also enjoyed a solid freshman season under Sayers' tutelage. In 25 appearances, including starts in the final 13 games, she averaged 9.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Her 121 free throw attempts and 75.2 percentage at the charity stripe ranked second on the team. Dawson's breakout performance came against Lake Superior State (Jan. 23), when she scored 24 points and collected 11 rebounds. Crandall and Dawson each finished with a team-high four double-doubles. As a team, GVSU improved its shooting from three-point range, making 32.9 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc compared to 30.6 percent in 2012-13.
In his first year with the Lakers, Sayers raised the shooting percentage of the team's guards. This enabled GVSU to average eight points per game more than it did in 2011-12. The Lakers also made 29 more three-point field goals in Sayers' first season than they did the year before. One of the most drastic individual changes were Dani Crandall's shooting percentage jumping from 29 percent to 44 percent. Sayer also helped Kat LaPrairie record the third-highest single-season three-point field goal percentage in GVSU history (43.4 percent). Moreover, Briauna Taylor earned All-GLIAC First Team and GLIAC All-Defensive Team laurels with a team-high 15.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
He came to the Lakers after four years as an assistant coach on the Western Michigan women's basketball staff. Sayers helped Ebony Cleary finish her career as a Bronco ranked 15th all-time in scoring, 10th in career field goal percentage and earn All-Mid-American Conference (MAC) honors. Sayers also has experience working as the director of operations for the WMU men's program.
Prior to WMU, Sayers served as the assistant coach for the women's basketball program at Kalamazoo College from 2006-07, following a very successful three-year run as the head girls' basketball coach at Climax-Scotts High School (2004-06). He led Climax-Scotts to a 64-7 record with three Southern Central Athletic Association championships, two district championships and an appearance in the 2004 regional finals. He was a three-time finalist for the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Class D Coach of the Year after guiding the Panthers to 57-straight conference victories and extending the school's streak to 90 wins. Sayers helped two players earn Class D First Team All-State honors and five of his former players are currently playing college basketball.
Sayers was a varsity boys' basketball assistant for two years (2004-06) at Climax-Scotts, including a trip to the regional finals in 2006, and was an assistant junior varsity baseball coach for one season.
A native of Eastpointe, Mich., Sayers was a three-year varsity baseball player at East Detroit High School and was the freshman basketball coach as a senior. He went on to Grand Valley State, where he earned a bachelor's degree in sports pedagogy in 2002 and another bachelor's degree in history and physical education in 2006.
Sayers married the former Liz Raifsnider in December of 2002 and the couple has three daughters, Grace, Anna, and Lily.
