Tennessee State University head coach Jessica Kern has announced the hiring of Deont’a McChester as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball program.
“Coach McChester brings head coaching experience to what already has proven to be a dynamic staff,” said Kern. “He brings us head coaching experience, a proven ability to recruit, a go-getter mentality, and understands all aspects needed to make a program function successfully. With a pipeline to midwest and southern connections, we are beyond lucky to have him join the women’s basketball family.”
McChester comes to Tennessee State from Division II Claflin University where he served as the head women’s basketball coach for four years.
Prior to taking over the reign of the Lady Panthers in 2013, McChester was the head assistant and recruiting coordinator for one season (2012-13).
McChester’s impact was felt immediately, as he helped put together one of the best recruiting classes (2013-14) in school history. His success carried over into his first year at the helm, as Claflin increased its win total by eight games from the previous season. In 2015-16, McChester led the Lady Panthers to a 17-11 record and third place finish in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Eastern Division, which included a victory over the #15 ranked team in the country Benedict College.
His 2015-16 team had the honor of earning the SIAC highest team GPA award for women’s basketball as well as Claflin Athletics top academic award. The team also earned the top academic award the following season.
During his time at Claflin, McChester signed five NJCAA JUCO All-Americans, one player who recently signed a professional overseas contract and three all-conference players.
Prior to his stint with Claflin, McChester spent three seasons with the Flint Lady Monarchs (formerly Flint Lady Flames) organization of the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League (WBCBL), which consist of semi-pro basketball teams. He joined the then Lady Flames in 2010 as an assistant coach and midway thru the season was promoted to the associate head coach position.
In that same year, he helped the Lady Flames upset the number one team in the country en route to capturing its first ever Northeast Region Tournament Championship, which earned them a berth in the WBCBL National Tournament. In the following season, McChester was promoted to head coach of the Lady Monarchs and led his team to its second straight Northeast Region Tournament Title. For his efforts, he earned the 2011 Northeast Region Coach of the Year and was voted the Co-Coach of the Year in the same region in 2012.
In McChester’s three years as a coach with the Lady Monarchs, he coached a total of 14 professional players.
McChester began his collegiate coaching career in 2007-08 as a men’s basketball assistant at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C.. He then moved to Winston-Salem, N.C. where he spent one season (2008-09) as the director of basketball operations for Winston Salem State University (WSSU). He spent the next two seasons (2009-2011) as an assistant at SUNY-Cobleskill.
A native of Flint, Mich., McChester earned his bachelor’s degree in business management (sports management) in 2007 from Keuka College in Parky, N.Y.
In June 2014, McChester participated in The Center for Coaching Excellence presented by the WBCA in partnership with Columbia University Athletics, which is designed to provide college women’s basketball coaches with comprehensive leadership development.
McChester served as chairman of the SIAC Women’s Basketball Coaches Association from 2014-17 and was a member of the NCAA South Regional Committee for two years (2015-17). In 2017, he was the NCAA South Region REP for the NCAA Division II Tournament.
He is a member of the WBCA, Black Coaches Association and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Photo Courtesy TSU Athletics
