PHOENIXVILLE BOYS BASKETBALL
MEET THE STAFF
First and foremost, our entire staff is made up of dedicated Phoenixville School District Employees. We are TEACHERS FIRST! That said, our main priority in our careers is to ensure our students reach their full potential. The same is said when we are on the basketball court. Understanding that every student-athlete is different, we strive to help every student-athlete reach his full potential.
Our coaches also provide: Academic support, genuine care of each individual and an unwavering commitment to each player's experience.
VARSITY HEAD COACH:
Eric Burnett (6th Season)
EMAIL: erburnett12@gmail.com
Phone: 610-608-4559
JV HEAD COACH/VARSITY ASSISTANT::
Erik Rutchauskas (6th Season)
JV/VARSITY ASSISTANT::
Marquese Richardson (4th Season)
VARSITY ASSISTANT::
Chris Dunleavy
(6th Season)
DID YOU KNOW:
🏀PHOENIXVILLE SINCE 2014-2015
(6 SEASONS)
- 87 TOTAL Wins in 6 seasons
- 49-17 PAC Record
- 4 PAC playoff appearances in 6 seasons
- 5 District 1 Playoff appearances in 6 seasons
🏀Since taking over in 2014, Coach Burnett and the Phantoms have more PAC wins (49) than any school in the PAC including Methacton (48) and Spring-Ford (43).
🏀Coach Rutchauskas and the JV team have a record of 56 and 27 over the last 4 seasons.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM OUR STAFF:
COMMITMENT: Committed to helping our athletes have a memorable and successful journey in our program and beyond. We understand the role coaches play in such an important phase of life for our athletes.
POSITIVE CULTURE: Our coaches understand the importance of creating a culture that is fun and healthy for the athletes to be part of.
POSITIVE INFLUENCE: We want to be provide a positive experience for our student-athletes high school and lifelong journey while building lasting, impactful relationships.
TEACHERS FIRST: We are teachers first. We care about the health, safety and well-being of our players. – We treat ALL players with respect and we expect the same from them in return. ALL players are given fair opportunities to earn playing time and will be evaluated on a weekly and daily basis.
COMMUNICATION: Email or call us to keep us in the loop with school habits, etc. that you feel we can support in. We are certainly open to communicate about your son’s performance.
Varsity Huddle with Coach Burnett
JV Huddle with Coach Rutchauskas
Freshman Huddle with Coach Butz
Middle School Huddle with Coach Otis
At all levels within our program, our players are invested in the MOMENT! Little DETAILS lead to big results. When players are physically and emotionally connected and invested in to the team, good things happen!
PHANTOMS STANDARDS
In Phoenixville Basketball, we believe in standards as opposed to "rules". Our standards are the core philosophy and belief within our program. More importantly, we believe these 5 standards are core pieces that can build successful habits beyond high school basketball. Through various leadership and team building activities, our players have helped create these standards and what is now known as the "5 C's". We believe the 5 C's are what help us sustain success on the basketball court and help mold our young men!
COMMUNICATION
Open and transparent communication with all parents and players. Coach Burnett and his staff take extra time to communicate with everyone in our basketball phamily. Players are expected to communicate with ALL teammates, teachers etc.
COMMITMENT
Being part of our program takes a big time commitment. We work together and we work hard throughout the year. When establishing strong connections, that helps players commit to our program standards and hold each other accountable
CONNECTIONS
Fostering lifelong connections amongst players and coaches. We do this through team building, fundraising and community service (and more).
CULTURE
“Is what you’re doing curing or contaminating the culture your teammates want to be part of”?
Creating a culture that enables all players to be comfortable interacting with each other, is a primary part of the foundation from DAY 1!
COMPETE
We believe that if we commit, communicate and establish strong connections with each other, it will give us a great chance to COMPETE in every game!
COMPETE. COMPETE. COMPETE.
PHOENIXVILLE YOUTH BASKETBALL
PHUTURE PHANTOMS
Phuture Phantoms Basketball is a travel basketball organization formed through the partnership of Coach Burnett and parent volunteers. The intent of PPYB is to get Phoenixville basketball players playing together at a young age and begin learning the concepts taught throughout the Phoenixville Basketball Program.
PPYB was formed in 2017 and has now grown to include Phuture Phantom Girls programs as well!
PHUTURE PHANTOM CHAMPIONS
In their second year together, the Phuture Phantoms 6th grade team won the ICBA Championship! Following this tournament, this team carried on the success to the middle school level in 7th grade! We are very excited about the future for this age group!
PHANTOM CLINICS
COACH PAUL AND HIS TEAM AT OUR FALL CLINIC
COACH DRE AND HIS TEAM AT OUR FALL CLINIC
COACH ANDY AND HIS TEAM AT OUR FALL CLINIC
COACH HOWARD AND HIS TEAM AT OUR FALL CLINIC
YOUTH BASKETBALL CAMPS
Our youth basketball camps are one of the best camps in the entire area. We started our camps IN 2011 with 20 boys and girls in one camp and have now grown our camp and worked with thousands of campers over the years. Our high school students play a huge part in running the camp. From coaching teams, to reffing games, our high school athletes make these camps memorable for everyone!
Many of our high school basketball players have come through our camps and clinics!
Watch this video to see camper, Trey Lear make a half court shot to win FREE GATORADE for all 110 campers!
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Each year, our basketball program volunteers to help our great Phoenixville Community. By doing so, our community reaps the benefits of our hard work while also providing our high school boys the opportunity to help others.
Several ways we have helped over the last few years include:
- GET WELL GABBY 5K (helping raise funds to cure childhood cancer)
- PHOENIXVILLE BED RACES (race day volunteers for set up and clean up)
- ANN'S HEART FACILITY CLEAN UP (Painting and cleaning the facility in downtown Phoenixville)
- CODE BLUE WARMING CENTER (collecting and delivering goods and items for families in need at the warming shelter)
- UPWARD BASKETBALL GAME vs Special Olympic Basketball team
Phantoms collect items for the Code Blue Warming Center in downtown Phoenixville
Phantoms take on the Upward Special Olympics Basketball team in a fun game!
Phantoms volunteer to help at the Phoenixville Bed Races Charity Event
Phantoms help paint the stairwell at the Ann's Heart building in downtown Phoenixville
2017 Phantoms hang out with honorary team captain, Mack before a big game
2019 Phantoms welcome back team captain, Mack for a pre-game speech!
The Phantoms huddled up for some fun jokes and laughter with our friends from Upward Basketball (the Special Olympics basketball team in Montgomery County)
BOOSTER CLUB SUPPORT
"The hard work of the booster club influences the team’s success. Hosting fundraisers for us, cooking delicious meals before the game, and preparing many ceremonies for us". - STEVEN HAMILTON (Class of 2020)
Our booster club helps us with fundraisers to make so many things possible including gear, meals, trips to Holiday tournaments and of course, our amazing locker room!
Our Booster Club helps pay for our hotel rooms and team outings in Wildwood
Our Booster Club purchased gear and surprised the boys in their own personal lockers
Our booster club surprises the boys with setting up our brand new home white uniforms
Our booster club helps set up senior night and provide amazing experiences for our boys
Parents join together to help provide pre-game meals for our teams!
Our parents helped us organize items for our community service!
PHANTOMS ALUMNI
ONCE A PHANTOM, ALWAYS A PHANTOM
"Phoenixville basketball helped me create unbreakable bonds and get close with people who I still and very close with today". - Dylan Clark
From showing up on "Phantom time" to meetings and events to handling adversity in many ways, my experiences with Phoenixville basketball have helped me in my current life as a college student. The values of a good work ethic, accountability, and teamwork that coaches stressed to us daily have had an incredibly valuable impact in my life both in high school and now. –
Tim Kopera - Villanova 2022
"There’s a lot of love and care within the program. Even the hard work of the booster club influences the team’s success. Hosting fundraisers for us, cooking delicious meals before the game, and preparing many ceremonies for us. But one thing you get when playing for this team is a brotherhood. The bonds you make with your teammates are special".
- Steven Hamilton
Being a part of the Phoenixville basketball culture, you will always feel welcomed and you will always feel a part of something. For me, I’m always interacting with the former, current and up and coming players. Phoenixville basketball taught me hard work, consistency and how to be genuinely good person. I can look back and think about all the great memories I have, all the great people and friends that I’ve made and lastly the historic achievements my teammates and I had made playing.
Christian Kelly Class of 2016
Lock Haven 2020
(1,310 Career Points)
NOTHING BETTER THAN THE PURPLE AND WHITE
2018 ALUMNI DAY
The boys are taking time to write down their personal goals (short term, long term, athletic goals and career goals)! We provide our players with a binder they can take for the rest of their lives and look back on.
TRAIN LIKE A PHANTOM
Our off-season training program is the best in the area!
One of the only schools who has a weight room strength coach!
DID YOU KNOW:
PAHS has one of the biggest and best weight rooms in the area?
VERTIMAX:
With the help of our fundraising, we were able to purchase a state of the art Vertimax machine!
CHALLENGES:
The boys are challenged to set goals and reach them in the weight room! They work hard to reach new milestones
CLASS OF 2022 THROUGH THE YEARS!
Sitcking together and it's paying off
Playing for the Phantoms Basketball Program is truly special. While playing for our program, your son will be challenged to work hard, be held accountable and develop lifelong friendships with their teammates while having unforgettable experiences. In Phoenixville, we have laid the ground work and set the standard in Phoenixville Athletics for running a successful k-12 sports program. Playing sports for a small, tight knit school community like Phoenixville means pride, passion and togetherness.
Coach Burnett and his staff strive to help mold great young men who are ready to pursue their dreams and passion upon graduating from PASD and leaving our Phantoms Basketball Program. In our program, we teach much more than basketball.
We work to instill:
A sense of belonging
A strong work ethic
Unselfish attitude
Perserverance
Goal Setting
Life Long Friendships
AND MORE!
Here is a great shot of our entire program 7th-12th grade at a practice last year! The boys all worked hard and competed in fun drills against each other!
Phantoms celebrate their upset over Boyertown in the PAC PLAYOFFS
WATCH US PLAY HARD. PLAY SMART. PLAY TOGETHER.
