Early Years

Bobby R. Phills, II was born on December 20, 1969 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Bobby and Mary Phills. The name “Bobby, II” was given him rather than “Bobby, Jr.” so that he would not be called “Junior” as his nickname. However, he was later given the nickname “Rob” to distinguish him from his father when both were in the same presence. Because his father was in South Vietnam during his birth and his mother was a working parent, he was sent to a babysitter, then to a church school, to a nursery school then to kindergarten. Each of these pre-school experiences had a significant impact on his formative years in that they all provided a fertile environment for his early educational growth and development. With both of his parents being college graduates, they knew that his future was largely dependant on the educational environment in which he grew up. For this reason, his parents took a special interest in his educational growth and development throughout his pre-college and college life.
As Bobby began to move through elementary school in Tuskegee, Alabama, he took a liking to sports of all sorts. He played point guard for Lewis Adams Elementary School, and later played junior varsity at Tuskegee Public and varsity at Tuskegee High School. When his father accepted a job as Dean of the College of Agriculture at Southern University, his Alma Mater, Bobby joined the varsity basketball team at Southern University Laboratory School. During Bobby’s pre-college years, he also excelled in such other sports as tennis, and track and field. Despite his exceptional sports abilities, his parents held fast to their rule that “your academics come first, and if you play sports, you can only do so if you maintain a 3.00 grade point average.”
Thus, from the time that Bobby began to play basketball and other sports in elementary school (4th grade), he never missed the honor role. He graduated with all academic and athletic honors from elementary and high school.