Bio

Hall of Fame head coach Phil Mathews arrived at RCC in June 2013 after spending three years as an assistant coach at UCLA, working alongside head coach Ben Howland. Since taking over the helm with the Tigers, Mathews boasts a 164-127 career record with RCC and a 598-337 overall head coach record. 

Mathews was named to the California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1997.

A native of Riverside, Mathews coached at various levels of college basketball, including 21 seasons at the four-year level. He spent nine years as the head coach at the University of San Francisco (USF), and four years each as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska (2007-10) under Head Coach Doc Sadler, and at Cal State Fullerton (1982-85) under Head Coach George McQuarn.

Mathews’ first stint as a head coach at the community college level came at Ventura College (VC), where he spent 10 seasons (1986-1995) and recorded a win-loss record of 296-56. He guided the Pirates to two 3C2A State Championships and 10-straight Western State Conference–North Division championships. Before his arrival, Ventura hadn't won a conference crown in 17 seasons. All but one of his teams earned at least 20 victories and on six occasions, including each of his last five seasons, his VC squads won at least 30 contests. During the 1994-95 campaign, Ventura went 37-1, ranked second in the State, and won its second 3C2A State Championship under Mathews. 

Mathews then moved on to USF and was the Dons’ head coach for nine seasons (1995-96 through 2003-04). Among the early highlights was a 19-11 mark in 1997-98 that led to San Francisco’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 16 seasons.

After USF, Mathews took the head coaching position at San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC), where he guided the Wolverines to an impressive 51-17 record. In his first season (2004-05) at SBVC, the Wolverines won the Foothill Conference crown with a 13-1 record, reached the state semifinals and finished tied for third in the state and went 27-5. That team had every player on the roster move on to a four-year college with a scholarship.

A two-year basketball letter-winner at UC Irvine, Mathews earned his bachelor’s degree in comparative cultures in 1972 and added a master’s degree in education in 1975. Mathews is married to the former Margie Holland. He has four children: Sabrina, Akilah, Jordan, and Jonah. 

Coach Mathews by the Numbers at RCC