Dr. Phillips re-hires Ben Witherspoon as head boys basketball coach

Witherspoon spent the previous three years as an assistant men's basketball coach at Mercer University and the University of Central Florida for two. Witherspoon led the Panthers to a State Runner-Up in 2022 and State Championship in 2021.

Dr. Phillips re-names Ben Witherspoon as their new head boys basketball coach (March 24, 2025) (Photo Credit: Ben Witherspoon (Twitter) / Ben Witherspoon (Twitter)

On Monday morning, Dr. Phillips has announced that they will be bringing back Ben Witherspoon as it's head boys basketball coach.

Excited to be going back to DP! I’ve learned so much these past 3 years as a Division 1 assistant but it was time for me to be a head coach again. A head coach that has grown and gotten better.

Better at knowing exactly what players need to be ready for the changes at the… pic.twitter.com/t1ukJE2Hex

— Coach Ben Witherspoon (@CoachBenW) March 24, 2025

Witherspoon led the Panthers to a state title in 2021, as well as a state runner-up finish in 2022 before leaving to become the assistant men's basketball coach at Mercer University for the past year and the University of Central Florida for the previous two years.

During his first tenure with the Panthers, Witherspoon led his team to win two district titles and two regional titles in his three previous seasons from 2019 to 2022. He also had 10 players pursue collegiate careers with four of them going to play at the Division 1 level; Ernest Udeh (Kansas/TCU), Riley Kugel (Florida/Mississippi State), Denzel Aberdeen (Florida), and Abdoulaye Thiam (Minnesota).

Witherspoon comes back replacing Antonio Cunningham who spent three seasons coaching the Panthers, as Cunningham had a career record of 33-44 winning zero district championships and zero regional playoff appearances including an 11-15 record for the Panthers this season.

In Witherspoon's previous three seasons at Dr. Phillips he went 70-17 (.804 winning percentage) with three 20-plus win seasons.

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