Courtesy of John McPhail
UTA women’s wheelchair basketball announced in a press release Wednesday that volunteer assistant John McPhail will be promoted to head coach of the program.
McPhail, who held the volunteer assistant role since 2022, will take over the job of previous head coach Morgan Wood, who stepped down in June to spend more time with her family, according to previous Shorthorn reporting.
McPhail’s relationship with UTA dates back to his stint as a player for the men’s wheelchair basketball team from 2009 to 2014.
“I am extremely excited about the opportunity to be the next head coach for the Lady Movin’ Mavs,” McPhail said in a UTA Athletics press release. “I’m not shy in saying that this is my dream job. I’m exactly where I need to be right now.”
Hailing from Peakhurst, Australia, McPhail played for his national team from 2009 to 2013, and 2019 to 2022. With the team, nicknamed the Australian Rollers, he won gold at the 2010 world championship and participated in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
McPhail also played professionally in Germany with the Köln 99ers in 2015-16 and Rhine River Rhinos from 2016-17.
During his time as a volunteer assistant with the Lady Movin’ Mavs, McPhail was a player-coach of the professional Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks, where he led the team to national championships in 2024 and 2026. A notable teammate of his is Movin’ Mavs head coach Aaron Gouge.
The upcoming season won’t be McPhail’s first opportunity to lead the program. In the early part of 2026, Wood went on maternity leave, and McPhail took an interim head coaching role, according to the press release.
“I leave with immense pride in the legacy we’ve built together and complete confidence that, under John’s leadership, the future of the Lady Movin’ Mavs is in great hands,” Wood said in the release.
In each of McPhail’s four seasons on the Lady Movin’ Mav sidelines, the team made it to the national championship and lost to The University of Alabama. His biggest task will be trying to finally get over that final hump and bring the program its third national title, and first since 2018.
“It’s one of the best programs for wheelchair basketball in the country,” McPhail said in the release. “To be able to come back and already have a vision from when I was here as a player and now to see what it’s changed into and getting to add my touches to an already amazing program is something that I can’t wait for.”
@TyRoland06