'Have I made 300 differences?': Santa Fe College's women's basketball coach Chanda Stebbins reflects on 300 wins

Queen’s “We Will Rock You” started to blare the second Santa Fe College women’s basketball coach Chanda Stebbins entered the Saints' locker room.

“You guys might want to watch out for a second,” Stebbins told media members as she approached the front of the room, fully aware of what was about to happen.

Before she could make it to the front of the room, Stebbins’ team doused her with cups of water.

She saw that coming. But what she didn’t see coming was the reason for the celebration.

Minutes before her Gatorade-cup shower, Stebbins collected career win No. 300 as the Saints (10-11) held on to beat Florida State College at Jacksonville (5-16) 59-54 at Santa Fe’s gymnasium on Wednesday night.

It was a number she never saw coming in a career that was never in the script.

“I just didn’t ever plan on coaching. I mean, it’s in my family. It’s in my blood,” Stebbins said. “But sometimes that drives you away from things.”

And given the fact that Stebbins played for countless coaching greats, it’s wild to think she’d never pick up a whistle.

Playing for pioneers

A native of Muncie, Indiana, Stebbins quickly took to the athletic landscape. At Delta High School, she lettered in basketball and volleyball.

She was good at both.

In fact, Stebbins was so talented that she’d end up being recruited by Florida volleyball coach Mary Wise, who first recruited Stebbins to Kentucky, where Wise was an associate head coach.

But when Wise took the job in Gainesville in 1991, Stebbins decided she’d tag along.

During her freshman season, Stebbins only played volleyball. But come her sophomore, junior and senior years, she’d return to her days as a two-sport athlete and dress for Carol Ross and the Gators’ women’s basketball team.

In her fifth year at Florida, Stebbins elected to drop volleyball and focus on basketball — a decision that proved to pay off.

Stebbins’ final run with the basketball team was during the 1996-97 season.

While Florida football was coming off its first-ever national championship, the women’s basketball team was tearing through the NCAA Tournament, where it ran into Old Dominion in the Elite Eight.

“We ran a play for Dana Smith to take a three. I don’t know, but I’m guessing at the time, that we felt like we were going to be denied inside,” Stebbins said, reminiscing on the game against ODU. “And it just rimmed out and we didn’t get the rebound. But we were that close to going to the Final Four, which historically, has been the best season.”

Few can say they played under coaches as legendary as Wise and Ross, let alone simultaneously.

“I’ve been really, really fortunate to see a lot of great female leaders,” Stebbins said. “But also male leaders who led female teams.”

Stebbins also played under Purdue volleyball head coach Dave Shondell, as well as Kentucky volleyball head coach Craig Skinner, who led the Wildcats to their first national championship in 2020.

And again, considering Stebbins' coaching pedigree, it becomes hard to believe that she didn’t want to pursue a coaching career.

Instead, Stebbins went into teaching, where she held positions at P.K. Yonge before going to Chiles Elementary School, which granted her the opportunity to train for a professional basketball career.

At the time Stebbins was working towards a professional basketball career, she was also running a number of basketball camps. And when she reached out to Santa Fe head coach Tammy Ruffian about hosting one at Santa Fe’s gym, she was told no.

And as the old saying goes, when one door closed, another opened.

“I didn’t really want to do it, but I came over here to talk to her anyway,” Stebbins said.

Meanwhile, Ross, Stebbins’ college coach, was telling her to do it. So she did it.

Little did Stebbins know, she’d spend just one year as an assistant before Ruffian would step down, which elevated Stebbins to head coach. She was just 27 years old.

Coming into her own

“Man, I was young,” Stebbins said, reflecting on her quick promotion to head coach.

And when you’re a young coach, you’re much like a toddler — very impressionable and looking to latch onto any good example. Fortunately for Stebbins, she had no shortage of good examples.

“From a coaching perspective, I think early in my career, yeah… I tried to be like other people,” Stebbins said, throwing out names like Tennessee’s Pat Summitt and Georgia’s Andy Landers — two coaches she played against during her time at Florida.

But as Stebbins got experience under her belt, she found herself no longer wanting to emulate other coaches.

“As you become more confident as a coach and even as a person and you become more emotionally mature, you learn that everybody does it different. So it’s really important… that you are able to identify that this is my style. This is how I best motivate players. There are other ways to do it, but this is the way I do it best.”

And Stebbins' style of coaching, which hinges on the Santa Fe women’s basketball program’s three pillars — academics, basketball and character — has seemingly worked well.

In her 21 seasons at Santa Fe, Stebbins has led the Saints to six Mid-Florida Conference titles and has made it to the state/regional tournaments 12 times in the past 16 seasons.

Individually, Stebbins has been named Mid-Florida Conference Coach of the Year six times.

Why not Division I?

With so much sustained success at Santa Fe, it’s a reasonable and flattering question.

“One of the reasons I don’t (coach Division I or Division II) is because here, I can continue making an impact on the whole person,” said Stebbins.

Unlike at major college programs, where the head coach’s sole focus is on Xs and Os and winning games, Stebbins juggles a lot.

Prior to games, you can sometimes find her picking up the pregame meal. On road games, she’s been known to tape an ankle, if need be.

And involved in her players’ studies? That’s an understatement.

Stebbins says she’s not afraid to bench a player for skipping class. Whereas at other major programs around the country, that might not be possible — or at least as respected as it is at Santa Fe.

“I’ve been really fortunate here at Santa Fe because my heart is education,” Stebbins said. “My heart is you becoming your best version of yourself. And that does include winning games. It does include graduating. But it also really includes developing the whole person character-wise. And I’ve been really fortunate here at Santa Fe to do that without some of the pressure that happens at other levels.”

A special 300

Three hundred wins is a milestone, no doubt.

And again, it’s not one that Stebbins expected to reach when she apprehensively agreed to onboard as a volunteer head coach 22 years ago.

But nonetheless, it’s a mark she eclipsed Wednesday night.

“There was just a lot of legends that had been here and that had won games. And they’d done it the right way,” said Stebbins. “You look at the record books and it’s hard for me to believe that I’m the all-time winningest coach here.”

But those wins are just icing on the cake for Stebbins, who has watched her players grow into better versions of themselves for 21 seasons now.

She estimates that she has passed nearly 300 players through her program. Including one who came to Santa Fe after barely graduating from high school.

“She hated school,” Stebbins said.

Now? She’s pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Central Florida.

“That’s a success story,” Stebbins said. “300 wins is really cool. 300 graduates? Really cool. 300 kids through our program? That’s really cool. But the really cool thing is each story.”

“So have I made 300 differences? I would like to hope that I have. That’s my legacy.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Santa Fe College women's basketball coach Chanda Stebbins picks up 300th win