LeTourneau Announces 2025 Hall of Fame Class

LONGVIEW, Texas -- Three individuals will join the LeTourneau Athletics Hall of Fame in October, announced the University on Friday.

The 2025 inductees are Portia Phillips (former head athletic trainer), Nate West '20 (men's basketball), and Dan Miller (former head men's basketball coach).

The Hall of Fame and Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025 at 10 a.m. in the Allen Family Student Center Great Room as part of Homecoming Weekend. The public is invited to attend and can reserve a spot through the Homecoming Weekend RSVP here.

"This is a stellar class of individuals who we are excited to welcome into the Hall of Fame," said LeTourneau Associate AD for Communications Andrew Mindeman. "All three had incredible careers at LeTourneau and their impact on the athletics department and in their sport is still felt today."

Portia Phillips, affectionately known by LeTourneau student-athletes and staff as Ms. P, spent over two decades as the head athletic trainer before retiring in 2024. Phillips arrived in Longview in 2003 as the first full-time athletic trainer the University employed. Over her career, Ms. P was at the foundation of LeTourneau athletics. 

She began her 30-plus year career in athletic training at her alma mater, East Texas State University (now East Texas A&M), as the Assistant Athletic Trainer. In 1997, she was one of two African-American women credited with becoming the first to be nationally certified as athletic trainers in the state of Texas. After four years as the Assistant Athletic Trainer at East Texas State, she became the Head Women's Athletic Trainer at Louisiana Tech University.

Her reach at LeTourneau extended far beyond the athletics department. Phillips was awarded the LETU Shining Star Award in 2006, voted on by the university faculty and staff members and awarded for care, service and relationship building with students. In the 2009-10 academic year, she was voted by her peers as the American Southwest Conference Athletic Training Staff of the Year.

In 2022, she was inducted into the East Texas Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Honor and in 2021 was the recipient of the John Harvey Humanitarian Award for having a significant positive impact on ethnic minority athletic trainers and the physically active population. Phillips was also awarded the NAACP Clifford E. Stewart Sportsmanship Award in 2015, given to the athlete, coach, or sports team that exemplifies the attributes of character, integrity, and sportsmanship.

Nate West is one of the best players to ever put on a LeTourneau uniform.

A four-year standout for the men's basketball team from 2016-20, West was the consensus national player of the year in Division III in the 2019-20 season as he helped LeTourneau to an ASC Tournament title and reach the NCAA Tournament for a second time. He earned national player of the year honors from D3hoops.com, NABC, and DIII News after averaging 28.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game.

West ended his career with 2,393 points -- tying the program record -- and was the ASC career points record holder at the time. He also ranks first in program history in several career categories including: 3-pointers made (361), free throws made (498), free throw percentage (85.6), and assists (534). West was a two-time ASC East Division Player of the Year.

In that 2019-20 season, West set a program and ASC record with 67 points in a win over Belhaven on Feb. 22, 2020 -- his last game in Solheim Arena. In his final game as a YellowJacket, West scored 51 points in an NCAA Tournament contest vs. Whitworth. In three NCAA Tournament games in his career, West averaged 33.0 points.

West holds most of LeTourneau's season records. He scored 830 points (28.6 per game) as a senior after totaling 626 (24.1 per game) as a junior. West drilled 124 3-pointers in his senior season and made 184 free throws in that year. His 208 assists (7.2 per game) in 2019-20 was the most in the program's NCAA era.

During his career, West led LeTourneau to the program's first two NCAA Tournaments and three ASC championships (two regular season titles and one tournament championship). LeTourneau won 86 games during West's four years.

West was a six-time All-ASC honoree, earning three All-Division honors three All-Conference selections. He was also a three-time D3hoops.com All-Region selection and three-time NABC All-District honoree.

Since graduating in 2020, West has played professional basketball overseas.

Dan Miller spent seven seasons as the LeTourneau head men's basketball coach from 2014-21.

In those seven seasons, Miller became the winningest coach in program history with 110 victories to go with two ASC East Division regular season championships, one ASC Tournament title, and the the program's first two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Miller took over the reins of the program in 2014 and quickly made the YellowJackets into one of the top teams in the ASC and in the region. In 2016-17, Miller's team set a then-program record with 22 wins and the program's first ASC East Division regular season title.

The following year in 2017-18, Miller's team raised the bar even higher with a 24-5 record, ASC East Division championship, and the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. The YellowJackets defeated Hanover in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to reach the second round.

LeTourneau captured three 20-win seasons during Miller's tenure and his .632 career winning percentage was tops of any coach in program history at the time of his departure.

Miller was the NABC District Coach of the Year in 2017-18 and earned two ASC East Division Coach of the Year honors (2016-17, 2017-18). He had 19 ASC All-East Division selections, three ASC East Division Players of the Year, eight All-Region honorees, and Nate West's consensus national player of the year honors in 2019-20.

Miller now serves as the head boys' basketball coach at San Marcos High School.