ST. IGNATIUS — After a 10-year hiatus, Mission will welcome back former men’s basketball head coach Lloyd Phillips to retake the reins of the Bulldogs this coming winter.

Phillips coached the team for 12 years up to 1999 and said he is happy to be back in action.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “And I think the kids are very excited.”

Phillips was born and raised in Mission and attended Mission High School himself, graduating in 1970 before going to UM for a little college ball experience.

“I’m very familiar with the program,” he said.

He also put in 11 years coaching and teaching at Charlo in his career and spent some time assistant coaching sports at both schools. He has 28 years in total coaching at the varsity level.

The Mission men’s basketball program had a tough season last year, characterized by some late success with the addition of a few players for the team’s last few games.

“It used to be Bulldog basketball was a big tradition around here,” Phillips said. “It’s been on a big slide.”

Phillips said this year was the turning point, when lots of people started asking him to get back into it. The timing was good, because Mission missed the divisional tournament the last two years - just losing the play-in game both times.

“I’m only 57 and I must have missed it more than I thought and I’m big on relationships,” he said of his desire to get back in the coaching game.

Resurrecting a basketball program is a process, he said.

“It’s going to be a project. It’s not going to happen overnight,” he said.

Phillips believes in a strong defensive game, but also likes to play a high tempo style of basketball. But most of all it depends on the team he coaches.

“It depends on your kids, but I’m a big believer in basic fundamentals.” he said. “Defense wins games, rebounds get championships and offense gets your name in the paper.”

Phillips said having Bigfork in Mission’s league this upcoming year will be a challenge and he expects Charlo to provide a strong rivalry. But all that is just fine with the “new” coach.

“The bigger the challenge, the sweeter the victory,” he said.

On that note, Mission has already started practicing.