| Title: | Assistant Women's Basketball Coach |
| Phone: | 989.964.7302 |
| Email: | smsande1@SVSU.edu |
Shonda Sanders was named the SVSU Women's Basketball Assistant Coach in April 2019, joining head coach Jennifer Pruett on staff.
Sanders helped SVSU go 16-11 overall and 11-8 in GLIAC play in 2021-22. The Cardinals reached the GLIAC Tournament for the third straight season, and saw two players earn All-GLIAC honors. Kaitlyn Zarycki landed First Team All-GLIAC and GLIAC All-Defensive honors, while Maddie Maloney earned Second Team All-GLIAC.
The 2020-21 season saw Sanders help the Cardinals go 10-10 overall and reach the GLIAC Semifinals. Kaitlyn Zarycki was named to the GLIAC All-Defensive Team and Maddie Maloney earned Second Team All-GLIAC honors.
In her first season with the Cardinals in 2019-20, she helped lead the team to a 12-17 overall record and a berth in the GLIAC Quarterfinals. Sanders helped coach Kaitlyn Zarycki to GLIAC Freshmen of the Year, as well as Second Team All-GLIAC honors.
Sanders comes to Saginaw Valley after serving as the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Delta College the past two seasons. During her time at Delta, the team had a pair of conference quarterfinals appearances and was successful in the classroom with a 3.19 GPA.
Sanders got her coaching career started with her alma mater, Central Michigan University, in 2015 when she served as a video coordinator for the Chippewas. Her responsibilities consisted of film work for both practices and games, helped put together the scouting reports and playbooks, on-campus recruiting and the Director of the Hoops for Hunger event. In the 2016-17 season, the Chippewas claimed their first regular-season MAC Championship since 1985, achieved the second highest win total in program history and made their sixth postseason appearance in their last seven years.
Shonda played for the Chippewas from 2008-2011 tallying 1,439 points which is good for ninth all time at CMU. Also, she finished fourth in career-3 pointers with 230 and her 510 points during her senior campaign ranks ninth all time for a single season. Sanders became the 19th player in CMU history to score 1,000 career points on December 11, 2010 against Northwestern. Soon thereafter, she broke the career 3-pointers record in a game against Eastern Michigan on January 12, 2011. She also went on to finish 12th in the Mid American Conference in career 3-pointers and is the only player to have 50+ triples in three seasons. On March 3, 2011, Sanders scored a CMU program record 40 points in a MAC Tournament Quarterfinal game against Buffalo while also equaling her career high with 7 3-pointers. After both of her Junior and Senior seasons she was named to the All-MAC Third Team. After CMU, Shonda went on to play professionally in Poland for one season.
After her season in Poland, Shonda returned to Michigan to join the staff at Alma College for three seasons. Over the course of those three seasons, Shonda held a lot of different hats including serving the Head Coach for the JV team. She also worked as the recruiting coordinator, worked specifically with guards working on both offensive and defensive game planning, director of summer camps and also travel arrangements.
Sanders earned her Bachelor's Degree in Health Administration with a Minor in Athletic Coaching, graduating from CMU in 2012 & a Masters in Sports Administration.