Deont’a McChester is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Claflin University women’s basketball program and his fifth overall. Prior to taking over the reign of the Lady Panthers in the 2013-14 season, McChester served as the head assistant and recruiting coordinator for one season (2012-13).
McChester’s impact was felt immediately within the Lady Panther’s program, as he helped put together one of the best recruiting classes (2013-14 class) in school history and during the Lady Panther's NCAA Era. McChester’s success carried over into his first year at the helm, as his Claflin team increased its win total by eight to finish with a .500 record (14-14). After finishing with the exact record the following season (2014-15), McChester led his team to a 17-11 record and third place finish in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Eastern Division during the 2015-16 season, which included defeating the #15 ranked team in the country Benedict College. The win is the first over the Lady Tigers since the 2008-09 season.
McChester’s team improved in the in the classroom as well. 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.
Since taking over the helm at Claflin, McChester has signed five NJCAA JUCO All-Americans, one player who recently signed a professional overseas contract and three all-conference players.
Prior to his appointment with Claflin, McChester spent three total 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, all who played their professional basketball internationally.
McChester began his collegiate coaching career on the men side. He spent one season (2007-08) as an assistant at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C. before moving to Winston-Salem, N.C. where he spent one season (2008-09) as the director of basketball operation Winston Salem State University (WSSU). He then traveled to Cobleskill, N.Y. where he spent two seasons (2009-2011) as an assistant at SUNY-Cobleskill.
A Flint, Mich. native, McChester received 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.
He is a member of the WBCA, Black Coaches Association and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
