Chelsea (Dermyer) Banbury is in her fifth season as the FGCU women’s basketball associate head coach, and the 2018-19 season signifies her 11th year on the coaching staff. Furthermore, among the 16 years in the program’s history, she has been a part of 13 of them as either a player or coach.
During her time as either a graduate assistant, an assistant coach or associate head coach, Banbury-coached teams have compiled a 281-67 record overall and a 157-13 mark within ASUN play. Furthermore, the program has never lost double digit games in a season with her as a player or coach.
A CULTURE OF WINNING
Since Banbury started as the program’s associate head coach, the FGCU women’s basketball program has compiled a 121-23 record overall and a 53-3 mark in ASUN play. In fact, over that stretch, the Green and Blue are one of only six Division-I teams with three 30-win seasons, have the most victories of any mid-major and rank seventh in wins among all teams.
On top of that, the Eagles have made three trips to the NCAA Tournament over the past four years (2014-15, 2016-17, 2017-18). The 2015-16 season resulted in a WNIT runner-up finish that witnessed the team knock off B1G power Michigan in the semifinals. In the 2014-15 NCAA Tournament, the Eagles defeated Oklahoma State in the opening round for the program’s first-ever win in the tournament. This past season, they upset No. 5 seed Missouri in the opening round.
Under the guidance of Banbury, the 2017-18 team had one of the best seasons in program history as the Eagles finished 31-5 overall, won the ASUN regular season and tournament championships and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the past three appearances. Along the way, the team knocked off No. 21 DePaul, No. 20/23 Kentucky and No. 17/15 Missouri to produce the program’s first-ever wins over ranked opponents in the Division-I era. And if that isn’t enough, the team made an NCAA record 431 3-pointers and finished the season at No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll for the second time in program history.
Some of the other highlights since Banbury took over as associate head coach include:
- The 2016-17 team rallying from a 2-5 start to capture its seventh-straight 25-win campaign, which culminated in the team’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in six seasons. The team finished 26-9 overall and made 338 3-point field goals, which was third-most in the nation. They suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Stetson in the regular season finale on its home court, but bounced back to hand the Hatters a heartbreaking defeat of their own on their home court in the ASUN championship game. The Eagles rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter behind the clutch play of two-time ASUN tournament MVP China Dow. The team’s season ended in a controversial 62-60 loss to Miami (Fla.) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
- The WNIT semifinal victory over Michigan in 2016 drew a program-record crowd that sold out Alico Arena for the first time in women’s basketball history. That year’s team won 33 games and set the program’s Division-I era standard for most in a season.
- Whitney Knight, the 2016 ASUN Player of the Year, becoming the program’s first player drafted in the WNBA by being selected with the 15th pick by the Los Angeles Sparks following her senior year. Rosemarie Julien also signed an WNBA training camp contract with the Atlanta Dream in 2018.
- The 2014-15 team compiling a 26-game winning streak en route to a 31-3 season and another undefeated conference slate. They actually won 29 of 30 during one stretch with the only loss coming in double overtime to Ohio State in the U.S. Virgin Island Paradise Jam event. The team earned the program’s first-ever Division-I national ranking, elevating as high as and finishing 21st in the nation in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
A LEADER ON THE COURT AND FROM THE BENCH
Banbury joined the Green and Blue before the program had Division-I aspirations and has since guided the team to the postseason in each of her years on campus, including all 11 Division-I seasons.
After completing a two-year career at Yavapai College where Banbury averaged 8.7 points and earned First Team All-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) recognition alongside future Eagle teammate, Kate Schrader, her friends thought she was crazy coming to Fort Myers to play for a Division-II program.
In her first year on campus, the journey became tougher as Banbury suffered a season-ending injury. She sat out as the team compiled a 29-2 record and advanced to the NCAA Division-II South Region semifinals. The following year, however, she assumed the starting point guard role and averaged 5.4 points and 4.5 assists per game while leading the team to a 34-0 start before a loss in the Division-II national championship game.
As a senior, Banbury averaged 8.1 points and 4.9 assists while leading the Eagles to a 22-9 record and an opening round WNIT victory over South Florida in the program’s inaugural Division-I year.
Following her playing career, Banbury slid right into a graduate assistant coaching position with the program from 2008-10. During that time, she helped lead the program to a 50-12 record, including a 34-6 mark in conference play. In the second of those seasons, she helped guide the program to its first-ever ASUN regular season championship.
With a master’s degree in hand, Banbury was elevated to an assistant coaching position in 2010-11. That season was the final year of non-postseason eligibility as a Division-I program for FGCU, and she helped guide the Eagles to a 28-4 record and the team’s third-straight 17-3 record in conference play. The team took down Drexel in the WNIT opening round, as well, for the program’s third Division-I postseason victory in four seasons.
The 2011-12 season witnessed FGCU compile a 29-3 record and become just the third team in ASUN history to win the tournament championship in its initial season of eligibility. The Eagles knocked off Stetson 67-39 in the championship game to also become just the second team in conference history to post an undefeated regular season (18-0) while also winning the postseason tournament.
With seven 3-pointers in the team’s opening round NCAA Tournament matchup against St. Bonaventure, FGCU broke the NCAA record for most 3-point field goals in a season (342) while also breaking the Division-I record for 3-point field goals made per game (10.7).
The following season, Banbury and the Eagles became the first school to go undefeated in ASUN play in back-to-back seasons, finishing with the most victories (27) of the 13 Division-I schools in the state of Florida and capturing the program’s third-consecutive ASUN regular season title. The team advanced to the WNIT for the fifth time in program history while once again leading the nation in 3-point field goals made per game (9.4) and ranking in the nation’s top 40 in 13 different NCAA statistical categories.
In 2013-14, FGCU compiled a 26-8 record (17-1 in ASUN play) in Banbury’s final year before being elevated to associate head coach The Eagles won a fourth-straight ASUN regular season title and captured the conference tournament for the second time in three seasons. The team advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to No. 5 seed Oklahoma State in overtime. The season marked the 10th straight in which the program won at least 20 games.
In her four seasons as an assistant coach, Banbury helped lead the Green and Blue to a 110-22 record and an astounding 70-4 mark in ASUN play. The team won four ASUN regular season championships, two tournament championships and made a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament and the WNIT.
AWARDS
Following the 2015-16 season, Banbury was presented with the FGCU athletic department’s Stanley “Butch” Perchan award, which is given annually to an athletic department staff member who bleeds Green and Blue.
In 2011-12, Banbury was recognized as one of the top 25 mid-major assistant coaches across the nation by CollegeInsider.com. She was the lone ASUN coach mentioned on the list and checked in at No. 21. The list took into account a variety of factors including an assistant coach's work ethic, servant's mentality, reputation amongst peers, longevity and success with the program, reliability, attention to detail, recruiting skills, basketball knowledge and future potential.
In 2008, Dermyer was the female recipient of the Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award, which went to the male and female student-athlete with the highest GPA.
PERSONAL
Banbury, who prepped at Poudre High School in Fort Collins where she was named First Team All-Conference and Honorable Mention All-Colorado, has earned two degrees during her time at FGCU – a bachelor’s in finance in 2007 and a master’s in business administration in 2010. She resides locally with her husband, Greg, who she married in May 2016 and welcomed a first child, Jackson, with in June 2018.
