No stranger to Lipscomb Athletics as a storied post player in the Don Meyer era and a member of the Hall of Fame, Philip Hutcheson returned to his alma mater in 2008 to take over the reins of the Bisons program. Since that time, Hutcheson has led Lipscomb to unprecedented heights as a member of the ASUN Conference and NCAA Division I.
In his time back on campus, the Lipscomb Athletics has become a major contender in the ASUN both in the classroom and in the arenas of competition. Under Hutcheson the program has flourished academically winning seven ASUN Conference President’s Academic trophies with the most student-athletes with a 3.0 grade-point-average or higher in an academic year. The Bisons garnered the league’s top honor for the first time in 2010, then captured four-consecutive pieces of hardware from 2014-17 before adding another in 2018-19. The Bisons then set the conference record in 2021-22 with 88.97% of their athletes achieving a 3.0 or higher, en route to the seventh trophy.
Between the lines, the Bisons have been just as successful. With Hutcheson at the helm, there have been 30 ASUN regular season championship trophies and 16 ASUN tournament trophies that have found permanent residences in the display cases in Allen Arena. Along with baseball, softball, volleyball and men’s golf in recent years, the Bisons have most recently had men’s basketball, men’s soccer and women’s soccer all make their NCAA Tournament debuts since 2017 to represent the University on a national stage.
Hutcheson has also set a new pace in athletic fundraising with the establishment of the National Bison Club (NBC). As a part of the NBC, Hutcheson established the Don Meyer Evening of Excellence to honor the former Lipscomb great. The guests of the annual event have included Tim Tebow, Ernie Banks, Mike Krzyzewski, Phil, Kay and Si Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame and many others. Hutcheson has led the renovations of Ken Dugan Field at Stephen L. Marsh Stadium and Draper Diamond at Smith Stadium where both facilities received new seating and scoreboards, the instillation of a pair of high definition, LED video boards in Allen Arena and the construction of the Robert Frost “Frosty” short game golf practice facility at the Nashville Golf and Athletic Club.
As a member of the Bison basketball team from 1986-1990, Hutcheson attracted national attention as he approached and broke college basketball's all-time scoring record, scoring 4,106 points during his career. Hutcheson's record was broken four years later by fellow Bison John Pierce, whose record remains unbroken.
A member of the NAIA Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame, Hutcheson was named an All-American each of his four seasons. He was also the 1990 NAIA Player of the Year and College Sports Information Director Academic Player of the year in 1988-89 and 1989-90.
He graduated from Lipscomb University as valedictorian with a 4.0 grade-point average and later earned his MBA from The University of Georgia. Hutcheson began his career playing professional basketball for the Music City Jammers in Nashville and later for a team in Manchester, England. Hutcheson returned to Nashville and began working in management at Sessions Paving Company in Nashville in 1997.
Hutcheson has been heavily involved in the Nashville community, including serving as a board member of the Nashville Sports Council. A 1999 alumnus of Leadership Nashville, Hutcheson has served on boards for the Green Hills YMCA and the Nashville Zoo. He also has coached area athletic teams for over 15 years for a variety of programs including the YMCA and the West Nashville Sports League. He is also an elder at Hillsboro Church of Christ in Nashville.
Hutcheson and his wife, Vera, have three children: Hannah, Sam, and Hank.
