Steve Collins, the longtime boys basketball coach at Vel Phillips Memorial High School, retired after the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, closing a nearly three-decade career with the Spartans. The announcement came in April as Collins wrapped up his tenure following a state runner-up finish at the Kohl Center.
Collins’ retirement marks a significant moment for both Memorial and the wider Madison community, where he has been recognized not only for his on-court achievements but also for his dedication to students’ personal growth. The Madison Metropolitan School District Board serves more than 26,000 students and maintains 53 schools including elementary, middle, high, and alternative programs according to the official website.
During his 27 years leading Memorial’s boys basketball team—covering about 45% of the program’s history—Collins guided teams to three Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Tournament Championship titles and five runner-up finishes. His leadership also brought home two national tournament first-place wins and set a state record with fourteen consecutive conference championships. He accumulated over 500 game wins and was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame.
Reflecting on these accomplishments, Collins said: “The championships, the wins, the records — those are byproducts of building something bigger than any one person. They’re the result of teams buying in, working together and competing for each other. That’s what I care about. It will all live on past me.”
Collins’ approach extended beyond statistics; he focused on rituals that provided consistency for players while emphasizing mutual trust among coaches and student-athletes. Former player Billy Wilson said: “You can be the best coach or teacher in the world with material, but if you can’t connect with humans, you can’t get buy-in. That is something I’ve really taken away…”
As he steps away from coaching and teaching math at Memorial High School—a school within a district prioritizing equity, inclusion, excellence in education and student well-being through health initiatives according to its official website—Collins encouraged future leaders to be authentic: “The next head coach can keep the stuff they like…but they need to put their own stamp on it.”
The Madison Metropolitan School District Board is led by an elected seven-member group serving Madison’s community according to its official website.
