Hall of Fame
With a penchant for playing at her best in the biggest of games, Sameera Philyaw was a cornerstone behind the Cal U women’s basketball team’s rise as an NCAA perennial power.
Philyaw played for the Vulcans from 2000-04. She helped Cal U compile a brilliant 112-19 cumulative record and 42-6 PSAC West mark during those four years. The smooth forward receives Cal U’s highest individual athletic honor on her first year of eligibility.
“It’s kind of a numb feeling,” Philyaw said. “I am very surprised and really had no idea I was even being considered. It feels very good and I am very proud to be part of it.”
Philyaw and Becky Siembak become the first teammates inducted the same year into the Cal U Hall of Fame since softball stars Danielle Penner and Lith Webb were honored in 2004.
“Becky is such a great individual and we were out there battling together,” Philyaw said. “It’s nice to go in with her but this is really such an overwhelming individual honor.”
The Vulcans’ record and post-season performances improved every season during the Philyaw era.
As a freshman, she averaged 8.4 points and 7.4 rebounds a game and the Vulcans went 19-10 overall and advanced to the PSAC championship for only the second time in the program’s history.
In 2001-02, Philyaw averaged nearly 15 points and more than seven rebounds a game. Cal U rolled to a 25-6 overall record and won its first-ever PSAC West (10-2) and conference championships. The Vulcans’ 3-0 PSAC tourney run concluded with a 63-60 conference championship home win over Millersville. Cal U then reached the NCAA Division II Regional finals after recording the program’s first NCAA tourney victory with a 76-49 win over West Liberty.
She shot over 56 percent from the floor during her junior season and Cal U compiled a 33-2 overall mark with a perfect 12-0 PSAC West season. After winning a second-straight conference crown with a 58-54 win at West Chester, the Vulcans hosted and won the NCAA Regional title with three home victories. Philyaw was named to the all-tourney team. Cal U then defeated North Florida by 14 points at the NCAA II Elite Eight Tournament in Missouri before falling by two points in the national semifinals.
During Philyaw’s senior season Cal U won the NCAA Division II National Championship while compiling a school-best 35-1 overall record with a team record 24-game win streak. Cal U won a third-straight PSAC title and avenged its only loss of the season with an 87-54 home win over Shippensburg.
Philyaw was selected Most Valuable Player of the 2004 NCAA Regional as she led Cal U with a 25-point, 13-rebound effort in an 11-point home win over Glenville State.
That marked the third consecutive year Cal U and Glenville clashed in the regional finals. The Pioneers won the first meeting in 2002 but Cal U won the 2003 and 2004 title games at Hamer Hall. Each championship game was played in front of capacity-filled crowds.
“Everybody was just so pumped and fed off each other,” Philyaw said about the big games. “You went out there so full of energy. We took the Glenville games personally because it did not go well the first time at their place with the crowd and how mean they were. We just automatically had a negative attitude when it came to them that we had to beat them and possibly crush them. You just always got you fired up to play them and teams like IUP.”
The Vulcans concluded their six-game NCAA tourney run with a three-point win over Drury in the finals. Philyaw averaged more than 16 points and eight rebounds per game that season and her field goal percentage (65 percent) was third best in single-season school history. Her 586 points and 245 field goals each ranked fourth at the time.
Five years later she appreciates winning it all even more.
“To me my whole basketball career at Cal U was a Cinderella story,” she said. “When I started we really were not considered much but we kept progressing. I don’t think I realized or understood the significance of wining a national championship until I started working. Once the word spread people were so amazed and the reality of it and how big it was really set in after I left Cal U. It’s s great feeling to know that you were part of a national championship team.”
A three-time all-conference selection, Philyaw is Cal U’s third-leading career scorer with 1,640 points. She also ranks third in career field goals (687), percentage (57.5 percent), and fifth in rebounding (879). Despite her many individual accomplishments, Philyaw praised the collective efforts for the team’s unprecedented success.
“It was truly a team effort that enabled us to win the national championship and not one particular person,” Philyaw said. “The coaching helped bring us together but everyone really complemented each other and we really wanted to do this for us.”
Originally from Pittsburgh, Pa., and a graduate of Westinghouse High School, Philyaw starred in basketball, softball and ran track & field for the Bulldogs. Philyaw, a CoSIDA District Academic All-American, received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Cal U in 2004. Philyaw praised the late Ron Forsythe, a longtime English professor, for being a positive influence.
“He probably didn’t know the impact he made on me,” she said. “I could always go to him with questions. He was always available. His personality and how he seemed to enjoy life was a big thing for me.”
She has been a tax accountant for more than five years with Price Waterhouse, a company she interned with during her undergraduate days. She credits her Cal U experience for helping build her career.
“Everything that it takes to play collegiate ball I think helped shape me to be who and what I am today,” said Philyaw. “After you graduate your life takes other directions but teammates such as Krystal Cornish and Sara McKinney will always be like sisters to me. I enjoyed Cal U.”
Sameera resides in Pittsburgh with her three-year-old daughter, Nahdia.
