The 2023-24 season marks Chenara Wilson's seventh year on the coaching staff at Slippery Rock.
After serving as the assistant coach from 2017-22, Wilson spent the 2022-23 season as acting head coach after the unexpected passing of former SRU head coach Bobby McGraw. She led Slippery Rock to a 15-13 overall record to mark the first winning season for the program since 2001-02.
Over the previous five years, which included four seasons of games (SRU did not play in 2020-21 due to COVID-19), Wilson helped Slippery Rock to at least 12 wins on three occasions.
CAREER AT A GLANCE
• In her first season at Slippery Rock in 2017-18, Wilson helped coach The Rock to a berth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament.
• Helped to mentor two All-PSAC West honorees Brooke Hinderliter (2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20) and Jamiyah Johnson (2021-22) to give The Rock back-to-back seasons with a first team All-PSAC recipient and at least one all-conference selection in each year Wilson has been on the staff.
• Assisted on a Rock team that ranked third in the conference in rebounds per game, fourth in blocks per game, fourth in field goal percentage defense and fourth in free throw percentage in 2017-18.
• A highlight of Wilson’s career at SRU was a 72-61 victory over 10th-ranked California University (Pa.). The win snapped The Rock’s 35-game losing streak to the Vulcans and marked just the second time in program history that SRU defeated a team ranked in the top 10 of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association national poll.
• Helped The Rock to 24 wins between 2017-19 which is tied for the most victories in back-to-back seasons over the last 20 years.
• Assisted on a Slippery Rock team that scored 1,986 points during the 2018-19 season which was the seventh-highest single-season total in program history and the most since the 1999-00 season.
THE ROCK IN THE CLASSROOM
• Slippery Rock has produced 40 PSAC Scholar-Athletes with Wilson on the staff.
• The Rock posted an 11-year team-best GPA of 3.598 in 2019-20 and has maintained at least a 3.30 for the last three years.
COACHING TIMELINE
• 2012-15: Mercyhurst North East (head coach)
• 2017-22: Slippery Rock University (assistant coach)
• 2022-23: Slippery Rock University (acting head coach)
• 2023-present: Slippery Rock University (assistant coach)
CAREER PATH
• Wilson led Mercyhurst North East to winning records in all three years heading the program, finishing with an overall record of 49-34 (.590).
• Under her guidance Mercyhurst North East earned back-to-back marks of 18-12 (2013-14) and 17-11 (2014-15) after going 14-11 in 2012-13.
• Her 2013-14 team won the Region III-Division II Championship and qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament.
• Outside of basketball, Wilson has spent time working in Cleveland Metropolitan School District as an associate teacher / counselor with the Positive Education Program in Cleveland, Ohio from 2015-17.
PLAYING CAREER
• As a player, Wilson was an all-region honoree for two seasons at Lakeland Community College prior to moving on to NCAA Division I Cleveland State University for her final two years.
• As a Viking, she appeared in 58 games over two seasons, averaging 5.7 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field.
PERSONAL
• A native of Cleveland, Ohio.
• Wilson earned both her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Cleveland State.
