Inside JUCO Basketball

In our latest We Ballin Too conversation, Stonewall gives viewers an inside look at junior college basketball while sharing experiences from a career that has taken her from starring at DePaul to professional basketball overseas and eventually to the coaching sidelines.

Today, Stonewall serves as an assistant women's basketball coach at Gulf Coast State College, an NJCAA Division I program in Panama City, Florida. But before she began helping young women navigate their own college basketball journeys, Stonewall built an impressive résumé of her own.

At DePaul, the 6-foot-1 forward developed into one of the Big East's top players. During her senior season, she averaged 17.4 points per game, earned First Team All-Big East and Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors, and received honorable mention All-America recognition from the AP, WBCA and USBWA.

She finished her DePaul career with 1,622 points while also earning Big East Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.

Her basketball journey did not end there.

Although Stonewall went undrafted in the 2020 WNBA Draft, she continued pursuing the game professionally, playing overseas in France and Hungary. She later transitioned into coaching, joining the University of Missouri women's basketball program as a graduate assistant before moving into her current role at Gulf Coast State.

That combination of experiences gives Stonewall a valuable perspective when working with JUCO players.

One of the important themes of our conversation is understanding that junior college basketball should not be viewed as the end of a player's journey. For many athletes, JUCO can provide another opportunity to develop, mature, earn exposure and position themselves for the next level.

That message is particularly important in today's basketball landscape, where recruiting attention can often center on rankings, social media and highly publicized programs.

Talent exists everywhere. Sometimes a player simply needs another opportunity to be seen.

Stonewall also brings the perspective of someone who experienced success as both an offensive player and an elite defender. Her own career was built on much more than scoring, and that background now influences how she helps young athletes understand what it takes to contribute to winning basketball.

But this conversation goes beyond X's and O's.

It is about development, opportunity, recruiting and the reality of navigating the different levels of women's college basketball.

And that is exactly why We Ballin Too wants JUCO basketball to be part of our coverage.

There are talented young women throughout the junior college ranks whose stories deserve to be told — and coaches like Chante Stonewall are helping prepare them for whatever comes next.

This article only scratches the surface. Watch our full interview with Coach Chante Stonewall to hear her story, learn more about the JUCO basketball experience and get an inside perspective from someone who has experienced the game as a player and a coach.