Frank Phillips College Men

Frank Phillips Men

Plainsmen, coach all new to school

By LEE PASSMORE

For anybody who followed the Frank Phillips College men last season, there’s absolutely nothing familiar about the Plainsmen this season.

The slate is clean because on July 7, coach Chris Hackett, who had been at the helm of the Plainsmen for 11 years and athletic director for the past year, left Phillips to take over as the athletic director at Florida State Gateway College.

On short notice, the school had to fill the men’s basketball coaching position. Three weeks after Hackett’s departure, Phillips hired Jason Sautter to assume both of Hackett’s positions, giving the men’s program a hit-the-ground-running atmosphere.

In keeping with the transient nature of junior college basketball, there will not only be a new coach, but an entirely new roster for the Plainsmen this season. Not a single player from last season’s 14-16 team returns this season. Sautter comes to Phillips after sitting out of basketball for a year following a successful tenure coaching the Seward County Community College men for four years in Kansas and also working as an assistant at Division I University of Kansas City-Missouri. He’s in Borger because he realized he still wants to coach. “When this job came open, my wife told me, ‘Go be Coach Jason Sautter happy,’” Sautter said. “I guess she could tell I was happy doing things I loved to do. I’ve been in the league before (at Western Texas and Howard College). I think it’s a really good fit, and the administration that’s here makes it a great fit as well.”

Sautter led Seward to a 28-6 record and the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament in 2019. He also was a head coach at Phillips’ fellow Western Junior College Athletic Association school Western Texas College for three years and served under current Texas Tech coach Mark Adams as an assistant at Howard College, another WJCAC school.

Team starting with defense

But Sautter likely has never been in a situation like he’s in with the Plainsmen, having taken the job with little time to prepare for the season.

With players who’ve never played together, the most logical plan was to set a defensive mentality first. Sautter thinks that will form a foundation upon which the team can build and that other things can grow around it.

“We’re always going to be known as a defensive-minded team,” Sautter said. “In order to do that, you have to be very disciplined on and off the floor. I’m big on servant leadership whether it’s as athletic director or head men’s basketball coach such as put student athletes first.”

The Frank Phillips College Plainsmen line up before a game on their home court in Borger. (Photo courtesy of Frank Phillips College)

Auditions for playing time seem as if they were fairly open. Sautter had 16 players listed on the roster and was anticipating possibly adding some foreign players if they could get clearance.

That has accelerated the learning curve, but Sautter likes the way his squad has adapted.

“I think we have a great group of guys,” Sautter said. “Knock on wood, they’ve bought in. We’ve put them through the fire already and stretched them pretty good already. We want to know what we’ve got, and we don’t want to waste anybody’s time, so if this is not a good fit, we want to make sure they have

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FRANK PHILLIPS PLAINSMEN SCHEDULE

Date Opponent

Time

Nov. 1 Wayland Baptist JV 6 p.m. Nov. 3 Garden City Community College @ Kansas 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8 Redlands Community College @ Oklahoma 4 p.m. Nov. 11 Otero College, @ Colorado TBA Nov. 12 Trinidad State College @ Colorado TBA Nov. 16 Lamar Community College 6 p.m. Nov. 21 @ Wayland Baptist JV 6 p.m. Nov. 26 Redlands Community College 4 p.m. Nov. 29 Trinidad State College 6 p.m. Nov. 30 University of the Southwest JV 6 p.m. Dec. 6 Lamar Community College @ Colorado 5 p.m. Dec. 29-31 Pima Classic @Tucson, Arizona TBA Jan. 7 New Mexico Military Institute 2 p.m. Jan. 9 @ Midland College 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16 @ South Plains College 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19 @ Clarendon College 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23 Howard College 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 @ Odessa College 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28 New Mexico Junior College 3:45 p.m. Jan. 30 Western Texas College 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 @ New Mexico Military Institute 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6 Midland College 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 South Plains College 7:30 p.m. Feb. 16 Clarendon College 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20 @ Howard College 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23 Odessa College 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 @ New Mexico Junior College 8:30 p.m. Mar. 2 @ Western Texas College 7:30 p.m.