Dereck Whittenburg facts for kids
Whittenburg in 2024
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| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Associate athletic director |
| Team | NC State |
| Conference | ACC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 2, 1960 Glenarden, Maryland, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1979–1983 | NC State |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1985–1986 | NC State (assistant) |
| 1986–1987 | George Mason (assistant) |
| 1987–1988 | Long Beach State (assistant) |
| 1988–1991 | NC State (assistant) |
| 1991–1993 | Colorado (assistant) |
| 1993–1994 | West Virginia (assistant) |
| 1994–1999 | Georgia Tech (assistant) |
| 1999–2003 | Wagner |
| 2003–2009 | Fordham |
| 2013–2015 | NC State (assistant) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2015–present | NC State (associate AD) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 135–162 |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (NCAA Division I) 0–1 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
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| Awards | |
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Dereck Whittenburg (born October 2, 1960) is an American basketball coach and former college basketball player. He is well-known for playing on the North Carolina State University team that won the 1983 NCAA National Championship. Today, he works for his old university as an Associate Athletic Director for Community Relations and Student Support.
Whittenburg has also been an assistant coach for several teams. These include North Carolina State, where he worked three different times. He also served as the head coach at Wagner College and Fordham University.
Dereck Whittenburg's Early Life and Playing Career
Dereck Whittenburg was a top high school basketball player. He attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. There, he played alongside Sidney Lowe in the backcourt. Together, they helped lead DeMatha to a national championship during his junior year. In Whittenburg's four years at DeMatha, the team lost only twelve games.
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Whittenburg's cousin was the famous NBA star David Thompson. Thompson had won a national championship with the North Carolina State Wolfpack in 1974. Dereck wanted to follow in his cousin's footsteps. He decided to play for NC State, hoping to win a national championship there too.
After graduating from DeMatha in 1979, both Whittenburg and Lowe joined the Wolfpack. Whittenburg became a star player under coach Jim Valvano. As a junior, he was named second team all-Atlantic Coast Conference. He then helped the Wolfpack win the 1983 national championship. After college, he was chosen by the Phoenix Suns in the 1983 NBA draft. He was the 51st player picked overall.
Coaching Journey and Return to NC State
In 1985, Whittenburg began his coaching career as an assistant at NC State. He worked under coach Valvano. After one year, he moved to George Mason University. Whittenburg then followed his head coach from George Mason, Joe Harrington, to Long Beach State.
He stayed at Long Beach State for only a year. Then, he returned to Valvano's staff at NC State. After Valvano left in 1990, Whittenburg stayed at NC State for one more year. He then rejoined Harrington at Colorado. In 1993, he moved back east to join Gale Catlett's West Virginia team for a year. After that, he returned to the ACC conference with Bobby Cremins and Georgia Tech.
After five years as an assistant at Georgia Tech, Whittenburg got his chance to be a head coach. He was hired by Wagner in 1999. He led the Seahawks to three winning seasons in four years. This included a spot in the 2002 National Invitation Tournament. In 2003, they won the Northeast Conference championship. This win earned them a spot in the NCAA tournament.
His success at Wagner caught the attention of Fordham University. Fordham hired Whittenburg to replace their former NBA head coach, Bob Hill. His time as head coach at Fordham was challenging. He had only one winning season in six full years there. In his last full season, Fordham lost 25 out of 28 games. This was one of the worst records in college basketball that year. He was fired early in the 2009–10 season.
After coaching, Whittenburg spent some time working in television. He returned to coaching in 2013. He was hired as the senior assistant to the head coach at NC State. He also worked as the director of player development.
On October 23, 2015, NC State announced a new role for Whittenburg. He accepted the position of Associate Athletic Director for Community Relations and Student Support. He stopped being an assistant coach right away.
Whittenburg was also an executive producer for two documentaries. One was "Survive and Advance," a 30 for 30 film about NC State's 1983 championship. The other was "The Gospel According to Mac," another 30 for 30 film about Colorado football coach Bill McCartney.
