My Story: Coach Andrea Stinson
Photo by Alchetron.com.
Andrea Stinson is the assistant coach for the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Bluefield University. She started coaching this season and has been a great mentor and role model for the players both on and off the court.
Stinson has always had a passion for sports, but basketball was not the first. She actually began her athletic career in softball, but once she discovered basketball her focus shifted. What made her fall in love, she said, was all the unique dribbling, passing, and even the different ways you could score.
Growing up, Stinson had many basketball role models, including Cherly Miller (a Basketball Hall of Famer who played for the University of Southern California and later coached in the WNBA), Micheal Jordan (arguably the greatest basketball player of all time) and Sam Perkins (who had a heavy influence on Stinson’s learning how to use her left hand and being dominant with both hands). Not only were popular basketball players her idols, but her community played a big role in her basketball career, as well. She said the guys in her neighborhood taught her how to play the game, and anytime she needed something the community was there.
“My mom was always there pushing me,” Stinson said, “and guys in my neighborhood were there teaching me the game and helping me get better.”
As a result of the positive influences and her hard work, Stinson excelled on the court. She was introduced to legendary North Carolina State women’s coach Kay Yow in middle school, and by the 10th grade she said she knew she was headed to NC State. However, when Stinson arrived at NC State she was academically ineligible her first year because she did not score as well as she needed to on the SAT.
“After being ineligible, I took the year and focused on school so there was no reason for me to not be eligible for the next season,” Stinson said.
After getting eligible, Stinson played in every game for the Wolfpack, averaging 23.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game throughout her college career. Her production was great, and she was very consistent in the numbers she put up. In fact, she won Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year in 1990.
As a result of her outstanding play, professional teams overseas started to take notice of Stinson, and in 1992 she left NC State to take a two-week contract for a team in Tarbes, France. That two-week deal turned into a contract to finish out the season, where Stinson averaged 21.5 points per game and helped lead the team to the finals. She got a contract for the following season and put up 26.6 points per game shooting 54 percent from the field.
After two years in France, Stinson moved on to Italy where she played three years and was named to the Italian All-Star team all three years. In 1997, she got to bring her talent back to the United States to play in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), close to home with the Charlotte Sting where she got to play in front of the community and the fans who helped her get to where she was.
“It was a very honoring thing,” an emotional Stinson said about the opportunity to play professional basketball in her home state.
During her eight-year stint in the WNBA, Stinson was a two-time All-WNBA team membeer and a three-time All-Star. She was among the top 10 scorers in total points four seasons, the top 10 in points per game three years, and the top 10 in field goals made five years. In honor of her accomplishments, Stinson was the first person from North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville, NC, to have her jersey retired. She also had her jersey retired with NC State and the Charlotte Sting.
Stinson retired from the WNBA in 2005, and not long after she said she developed a passion for coaching. She began her coaching career at the middle school and high school levels before. It was her way, she said, of “assisting” the community that once helped her out.
“It makes me feel good to be able to share what I learned over the years with younger kids,” Stinson said when she first started her coaching career. “So that way they can learn and play, and they can teach somebody else.”
For her efforts in giving back to the Charlotte community, Stinson received the WNBA’s Community Assist Award, the Bobby Phills Community Award, the Maya Angelou Leadership Award, and the United Negro College Fund Leadership Award.
Now coaching at the collegiate level as an assistant for the men’s and women’s basketball team at BU, Stinson is also pursuing her bachelor’s degree in sports communication — something she didn’t quite finish when she left NC State early to pursue her professional basketball career. Balancing her work as a coach while pursuing her degree, she admitted will be a challenge.
“I haven’t gotten to the hard part,” she said, “which is traveling and missing class. It’s all time management. Getting homework done in between my class and getting to practice.”