Derrick Phelps is an assistant coach for the Fordham men's basketball program in Bronx, New York, a position he assumed in May 2025. In his first season back at Fordham, he helped the Rams finish 17-15 overall and 8-10 in Atlantic 10 play. Fordham stood out defensively, leading the conference and ranking 12th nationally, while also placing among the league's top teams in defensive rebounding, rebounding margin, and offensive rebounds per game. His connection to the program dates to 2010-11, when he began his college coaching career as Fordham's video coordinator.
Before returning to Rose Hill, Phelps built experience across several Division I staffs. He coached at Monmouth from 2011-14 under former North Carolina teammate King Rice and was later associate head coach at Columbia from 2014-16, where he was part of a 25-10 season, a 10-4 Ivy League finish, and a CIT championship. He then joined Kyle Smith's staffs at San Francisco and Washington State. San Francisco won at least 20 games in each of his three seasons there and produced six all-conference selections, while Washington State finished .500 or better in all three of his seasons, including a 22-15 record, an 11-9 Pac-12 mark, and an NIT semifinal appearance in 2021-22. Phelps later worked at Monmouth as a special assistant, spent the 2023-24 season at Marist during an 18-13 campaign, and then helped LIU improve by 10 wins to 17-16 while finishing second in the NEC at 12-4.
