How NC State's Donavan Phillip, the NCAA's goals leader, became a scoring machine

Going into NC State’s mid-September meeting with William & Mary, Wolfpack coach Marc Hubbard told his squad it needed to jump out to an early lead. If the Pack were to give the Tribe an inch, they’d take it a mile, so a quick strike or two would allow the home team to play comfortably against an upstart CAA foe that was looking for a signature non-conference win. 

As striker Donavan Phillip listened, he knew he would be the one tasked with finishing chances to give the Wolfpack that lead Hubbard was looking for. But what followed wasn’t something that he could have predicted. 

The junior goal-scoring machine not only gave NC State a 1-0 lead in the third minute of the game via a set-piece header, but he soon found the back of the net in the 20th (left-footed rocket from 10 yards out), 27th (another header) and 28th (another left-footed strike) minutes to put the Wolfpack up 4-0 in the blink of an eye. 

Phillip, who had scored three goals in the Pack’s second game of the season, didn’t realize how fast he netted four in the first 28 minutes of the game until afterwards, but that was the end of his afternoon. The Wolfpack’s bench played the rest of the way in the 7-0 victory over the Tribe. 

“It was kind of crazy, actually,” Phillip said in a recent interview with TheWolfpacker.com. “It was quite something. I didn’t look at the time, to be honest. …  I was just trying to play the game. I knew a lot of guys’ game time was riding on me, so I was trying to put them away as quickly as possible.”

It was a small glimpse of what Phillip can do, but his four-goal performance seemed to put the forward on the national radar. Through NC State’s first 10 games, Phillip has scored an NCAA-leading 14 goals, while he’s the only player in Division I to post multiple three-plus goal efforts at this stage of the 2025 campaign. 

In other words, Phillip is in rare company. He’s on pace to post one of the highest goals-per-game averages in recent history with his current 1.40 mark. And as the striker has made himself the face of the No. 2 team in the nation, he isn’t looking to boost his own stock. Instead, he’s playing for both his team and native country to help pace the Wolfpack to heights it hasn’t seen in more than three decades.

His path to this season

Saint Lucia is a small, Eastern Caribbean country known for its beach resorts, reef diving and volcanoes, not so much soccer. The nation of less than 140,000 tends to opt for cricket, but Phillip grew up surrounded by the game he now loves. 

Phillip, a native of Castries, can remember going to watch his father’s professional soccer games in Jamaica, while his mother played cricket, rugby and soccer at a high level. Sports were a key part of his upbringing, but Phillip seemed to gravitate towards the one that involved scoring goals with his feet by the time he was 4 years old. 

In his eyes, it was a “no-brainer” to follow in his parents footsteps. As Phillip wanted to take the sport seriously, his mother earned her coaching license and began tutoring her son. Soon enough, Phillip was skilled enough to move to the United States at 14 to play at Kiski Prep, a boarding school in Saltsburg, Pa. 

It wasn’t an easy road to even move to the States, but Phillip’s family did everything they could to help him secure a visa. He was determined to not let them down, and in turn, he helped the high school program win two national titles before he earned a scholarship to play at Oakland. 

Although he was featured at left back for the Golden Grizzlies in 2023, Phillip still managed to score five goals with seven assists in 19 games as a freshman. He recorded three game-winning tallies, an early look into what Phillip could become. 

After his standout freshman season, Phillip wanted a tougher challenge. He entered the transfer portal before landing at NC State. The gauntlet of the ACC was intriguing, and sure enough, Phillip fit right in with six goals and four assists during the 2024 campaign.

Phillip didn’t just turn heads in Raleigh as he played for Hubbard, but he did on the professional level, too. The forward was the 62nd overall pick, a third-round selection, by the Colorado Rapids in this past spring’s MLS SuperDraft.

It was a landmark occasion, one that left him and his mother in tears, but Phillip didn’t think he was ready for the next level. Instead of signing with Colorado, Phillip returned to NC State for his junior campaign with his sights set on developing even more as a goal scorer.

“I believed I needed another year so I could gain a little more experience and development before I go to the pro level where I’ll play against grown men,” Phillip, 20, said. “ I talked through that with the coaching staff and we came up with a plan … so when I go to the pro environment,  I’m ready. I’m kind of the best ‘Gusto’ possible.”

Little did Phillip know that an extra season of college soccer would not only prepare him for the professional ranks, but it would also make himself a household name in the NCAA ranks. 

Increased confidence leads to more goals

Confidence is a unique trait. It can boost a player’s output immensely, but the lack of it can also be detrimental for an athlete. In Phillip’s case, a 12-goal summer with USL2 side Flint City Bucks seemed to put him in a headspace of an elite goal scorer after being named the league’s Player of the Year by the end of the brief campaign. 

In a way, the summer that featured four-game winners and nine assists was a test for Phillip, who set the bar of averaging one goal per game. If he did that in the short season, he felt like it would be doable to replicate at NC State. 

He wasn’t wrong, either, as that same approach has made a seamless transition to the Wolfpack’s 8-0-2 start to the 2025 campaign. And his self-belief appears to be at an all-time high as a result.

“I feel like confidence is what really changed my game,” Phillip said. “I knew if I averaged one or two goals per game this season, I could break as many records as possible. … That at least ‘get one a game’ mentality is what really makes me strive. I feel like one [goal per game] is really helping my confidence, so I know I’m on the right track of meeting my goal.”

Although it was a lofty bar to set — Phillip thought 10 goals this season would be a dream come true — the forward has been able to shatter through it. He’s been able to find the back of the net in a variety of ways this season by rocketing attempts with his left foot, while also using his aerial game to soar over defenders with his 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame to to add a few more to his total via his head. 

In all, Phillip has scored in seven of NC State’s first 10 games, including three multi-goal performances to pace the nation in the statistic.

Hubbard, who brought Phillip into the program in his first transfer portal class in Raleigh, thought the striker would be able to play well in the team’s aggressive style, but this season has proven he was more than that.

While Phillip is a test case for a player absorbing everything Hubbard and his staff teach in their competitive training environment, his maturation within the program has been impressive. Hubbard, who guided NC State to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1991 last fall, believed Phillip’s ability to create separation from defenders has been his best trait this season. 

“He can get by players with not just his running ability, but when he’s on the ball, he’s able to create a little bit of separation with his first few steps,” Hubbard said. “He’s confident and not afraid to shoot, but … instead of just always taking it himself, he has awareness within the moment too. It’s a good healthy balance.”

Phillip’s 14 goals are the Wolfpack’s most in a single season since Ronnie Bouemboue scored 14 in 2008. But unlike that campaign, the striker still has six regular season matches and a likely deep postseason run left to add to his total. 

While his scoring is at a record pace, Phillip is unique in the fact he doesn’t feel the need to put the ball in the back of the net every time he touches it. He’s ready to make any play that will lead to wins, but so far, it’s been with his scoring prowess.

“I believe I’ll play for the team first, and then if it’s my time to score, then I’ll score. If it’s someone else’s time, then it’s someone else’s time,” Phillip said. At the end of the day, I want to score goals, and I know that scoring goals will help my team win. We’re trying to win the national championship and win the ACC. I know I have to hit the back of the net to help my team.”

NC State hasn’t appeared in the College Cup — the sport’s final four, which is held in Cary annually — since 1990. Phillip is determined to help the Wolfpack reach the last weekend of the season, and his goal-scoring pace appears to have the team well-positioned going into its toughest stretch of the season: four ranked teams and the 2023 national champion coming up in its next five matches.

No regrets

There’s a world in which Phillip is in MLS by now. He could be playing the sport at the U.S.’ highest level, but instead, the striker has found a way to leave a lasting legacy at NC State. And he has not second-guessed his choice to decline the Rapids’ contract offer. 

“It’s going pretty well. I’m getting major minutes against really quality players. We’re doing so well in the season, so it’s been really fun,” Phillip said. “I don’t regret my decision. I’m really enjoying it. I get to spend time with these guys for one extra year. I can’t complain.”

Although that’s the case, Phillip understands how close he is to playing professionally. Teams are interested, especially with his frenetic goal scoring this season, which is a positive headspace for the Wolfpack’s standout forward to be in. 

He’s taking every opportunity one day at a time, enjoying what’s likely to be his final collegiate season, but the opportunity to make history for his country is something that the even-keeled Phillip lit up when talking about. 

“Being the first-ever Saint Lucian player to get drafted, and maybe the first to ever play in an MLS game, I feel like that’s a lot to hold,” Phillip said. “I’m not playing for me anymore. I’m playing not just for my family or my name, but more for the country, trying to put it on the map, in terms of soccer.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a lot of pressure, but I feel like it’s the sense of my trying to show that even though the island’s small, we still have a lot of fight and a lot of people that are talented and need to be seen.”

So far, it seems like Phillip has already put Saint Lucia on the map — at least among the Red Terrors student section and the rest of the Dail Soccer Field in Raleigh. That, for now, can bring Phillip joy as he continues to bury shots for the Wolfpack as the nation’s most-electric scoring threat this fall.