Davenport University Athletics

Shonda Sanders became the head coach for the women's basketball program in April 2022. She is entering her third season as head coach for the Panthers. She is being tasked with getting the program headed in a winning direction. DU has not had a winning season since joining the NCAA Division II ranks after the 2016-17 season. Sanders helped built the progression of current senior center Lillee Gustafson. She earned Second Team All-GLIAC honors for the second straight season in 2023-24.

Sanders is no stranger to the rigors of the GLIAC and NCAA Division II having spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Saginaw Valley State. The Cardinals were able to see a win improvement in each of those three seasons including a 16-11 overall record and 11-8 mark in the GLIAC in 2021-22. SVSU reached the GLIAC Tournament for the third straight season in 2021-22.

Prior to SVSU, Sanders served as head coach at Delta College, a two-year institution in University Center, Michigan. She held that role for two seasons and the team had a pair of conference quarterfinal appearances.

Sanders got her coaching started at her alma mater Central Michigan University in 2015 as the video coordinator for the Chippewas. Shonda played for the Chippewas from 2008-2011 tallying 1,439 points. She also finished with 230 career three-pointers and scored 510 points during her senior campaign. Sanders became the 19th player in CMU history to score 1,000 career points on December 11, 2010 against Northwestern. 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.

Sanders earned her Bachelor's Degree in Health Administration with a Minor in Athletic Coaching and a Master's Degree in Sports Administration, both from Central Michigan University.