« Women’s Basketball 2013-14

Dequesha McClanahan

School
Winthrop
Position
Guard
Major
exercise science
PPG
17.2
RPG
6.7
APG
7

Classroom

Dequesha McClanahan is pursuing a B.S. degree in Exercise Science and aspires to be a physical therapist following graduation.  She has compiled a 3.303 cumulative grade point average entering her senior year.  She was named to the 2013 Big South Conference All-Academic Team and has achieved Big South Presidential Honor Roll status for having a 3.0 or higher GPA in three consecutive years.  She achieved the Winthrop Dean’s List in Fall 2011 for compiling a minimum GPA of 3.5.  In 2013, she received the Ann Scott Terry Award from Winthrop Athletics for her outstanding accomplishments.

Character

Dequesha McClanahan exhibits leadership on a daily basis in Winthrop’s women’s basketball program.  She leads both by example and with her positive energy. She always has a word of encouragement for all of her teammates. Dequesha has had the pressure of being named Big South Conference Player of the Year for the past two seasons and is the Big South Preseason Player of the Year entering her senior season at Winthrop. She handles this with grace and integrity. Her work ethic is second to none. She does all of the extras outside of practice: extra shooting, extra free-throws, extra strength and conditioning. Dequesha is the first player on the roster to volunteer for community service events. She exhibits teamwork as she has led the Big South in both scoring and assists and her head coach says she would much rather make a great assist than to score the point herself. Dequesha has had to overcome many obstacles throughout her career at Winthrop, including having a different coach each of her first three seasons. It is only this, her senior season, that she will have had the same coach two consecutive years. Wthout question, she is deserving of this nomination and consideration for the Senior Class Award.

Community

Dequesha McClanahan has been extensively involved in community service efforts.  During her freshman season (2010-11), she helped cook and serve dinner at a local senior citizens home, and participated in a year-long student-athlete service project called “Soap for Souls” that collected and donated more than 1,200 pounds of travel size toiletries to victims of the tornadoes in the southern United States.  As a sophomore (2011-12), she volunteered in several team and athletic department projects that included a Community Day at Friedham Park, a “Hoopin’ It Up With The Eagles” event at the local mall, and Eagle Week activities with the York County Boys and Girls Club.  As a junior (2012-13), she volunteered at the Volleyball “Think Pink Night”, the Friedham Park Community Day, “Red Ribbon Week” at a local elementary school, working with the Boys and Girls Club Eastern activities, and participated in the Big South Conference canned food drive in which Winthrop student-athletes collected more than 11,000 pounds of food for donation to the less fortunate.  This year, thus far, she has assisted with a Fall Pumpkin Patch event and volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club’s craft and games event.

Competition

Dequesha McClanahan was voted the 2012 and 2013 Big South Conference Player of the Year and is the 2014 Preseason Big South Player of the Year. She was also voted the 2010 Big South Freshman of the Year.  Going into her senior season, she has scored 1,691 points and needs just 10 points to become the all-time Winthrop women’s basketball scoring leader. She is less than 200 points from becoming the school’s all-time scoring leader, and only 309 points away from becoming the first 2,000-point scorer in Winthrop history.  She has led the Big South Conference in scoring and assists as a sophomore and junior and during her junior year she ranked 11th in the nation in scoring (21.1) and second in assists (7.2). She has played in 94 career games and scored in double figures 80 times, including 60 of the last 63 games. She completed her junior year by scoring in double figures in 31 of 33 games while averaging 19.8 points per game. She is the all-time Winthrop made free throws leader with 389 and ranks second on the assist list with 526. She scored a career-high 33 points on March 2, 2012 against Charleston Southern and dished out a career-high 15 assists against Campbell on Jan. 30, 2012.