Identifying talent a skill Schirmer brings to UTC
Deandra Schirmer became the newest head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Thursday, when the Mocs announced she was taking over their women’s basketball program after five seasons in charge of Valdosta State University’s Lady Blazers.
The 34-year-old Schirmer steps in less than two weeks after Shawn Poppie’s two-year tenure at UTC ended when he became the head coach of Atlantic Coast Conference program Clemson. His time with the Mocs produced two NCAA tournament appearances from back-to-back Southern Conference championships, with the Mocs also winning the league’s regular-season title this year.
Schirmer is making the jump to Division I and the SoCon from Division II and the Gulf South Conference, where VSU’s competition included Lee University from nearby Cleveland. The Lady Blazers beat the Lady Flames last month to win the program’s first GSC tournament title since 2017.
Here are five facts about the Mocs’ newest hire.
1. Coaching success: Schirmer went 114-31 overall at VSU, with three seasons that concluded with a top 25 ranking for the South Georgia program, including sixth after the Lady Blazers won 26 games and advanced to the Elite Eight in the 2021-22 season. This past season, VSU won 30 games, which tied a program record. Even more impressive was Schirmer’s record against GSC competition, with the Lady Blazers going 86-19 in league play.
2. Athletic nerd: She was an extremely busy person as a student-athlete at Holton (Kansas) High School. Schirmer was an all-state selection in basketball and volleyball, an all-league selection for softball and cross country, and an all-county selection in cross country and volleyball. She was also class valedictorian and a Kansas Scholar who won the distinguished scholastic achievement award from the Kansas State High School Athletic Association. She was the journalism yearbook editor, the yearmovie editor and was involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, band, Model United Nations, Students Against Destructive Decisions, Mathletes, the school play and a musical.
3. Winners win: At 5-foot-8, Schirmer would be described as an undersized post player, but the college teams she played on were successful, and she played a role in that. At Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas, her teams won 53 games during her two years. As a sophomore, she grabbed 19 rebounds in one game and was an allleague second-team selection for the Kansas Jayhawk Western Division Conference. She played her final two seasons the University of South Carolina
Aiken, a Division II program, and helped the Pacers go from 15 wins her junior year to 27 her final year, which is still tied for the program record for wins.
4. Talent acquisition: As a coach, Schirmer has done a good job of identifying talent, regardless of where it came from. Of the nine players who averaged double-digit minutes for the Lady Blazers in 2023-24, three of them came from the junior college ranks and two from high school, while two were D-I transfers and two others came from the D-II ranks. Guard/forward Kalifa Ford, who started her career at D-II Oklahoma Baptist, was an All-American this season, the second under Schirmer; Kwajelin Farr — a two-time AllAmerican who transferred from USC Aiken — was the first in 2021 and 2022.
5. Good genetics: Schirmer comes from an athletic family. Her grandfather, David, played three years of college football at Kansas State University; her father Charles played football first at KSU, then at Fort Hays State in Kansas. She had an uncle named Henry who played at South Dakota State and Oklahoma State, and a cousin named Matt who played football at Houston. Her aunt Thelma Schmitz Strathman played volleyball at Kansas State, her cousin Tara Schmitz played volleyball at Fort Hays, and her cousin Darcie Schmitz ran track at Fort Hays.