Shanice Stephens Completes Women’s Basketball Coaching Staff

June 30, 2005

Clemson women’s basketball head coach Cristy McKinney has named Shanice Stephens an assistant coach, completing the staff for the 2005-06 season. Stephens served as an assistant under McKinney at Rice University from 1996-2005, where she helped the school to nine consecutive winning seasons. She will also serve as Clemson’s recruiting coordinator for the 2005-06 season.

“Shanice brings a lot of experience,” McKinney said. “She’s worked with me in the past and knows what sort of things worked at Rice. She has a great personality and brings a lot of enthusiasm to the Clemson program.”

While at Rice, Stephens helped the Lady Owls to 179 wins during her nine years in Houston. That equates to an average of 19.9 wins per year. She also helped Rice to a 65.6 winning percentage (179-94) during that time. Included in the total was Rice’s 24-9 record in 2004-05, when Stephens helped coach the Lady Owls to their second WAC Tournament Championship and second NCAA Tournament appearance.

Stephens coached the Lady Owls to 20+ wins in six of her nine seasons with the Rice program. She helped lead Rice to the 2000 WAC Tournament title and subsequent first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. That season, Stephens led Rice to top 30 rankings in both three-point shooting (36.7 percent) and scoring defense (59.8 points per game).

Stephens was responsible primarily for defense and perimeter players at Rice. This past season, she coached Krystal Frazier to WAC All-Defensive Team honors after she posted 1.76 steals per game. In 2002-03, she coached Kim Lawson to WAC All-Defensive honors. She also helped Lawson to WAC All-Newcomer honors in 2000.

She had a significant impact in the development of four-time All-WAC selection and former WNBA player Marla Brumfield. Under Stephens’ guidance, Brumfield finished first in Rice history with 311 steals, and third in Lady Owl history with 1,703 career points scored. Stephens also coached Charonda Wilson, a two-time WAC All-Defensive Team selection.

Stephens spent three years as an Athletic Amateur Union (AAU) coach in Oklahoma, guiding her 1996 team to the state championship.

Stephens earned her undergraduate degree in 1993 from Oklahoma State, where she earned two letters and was a member of two NCAA Tournament teams. Stephens started at point guard for Austin Peay during the 1989-90 season, her first year of eligibility. She earned a masters degree in 1996 from the University of Central Oklahoma.

The former Shanice Sandford married Garrett Stephens on June 6, 2005. She has a five-year old daughter, Sydney Alexandria.