- October 6, 2024
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Under coach Brandon Stewart, the Mainland girls basketball team advanced to the Class 5A state championship game in each of the past two seasons, winning the title in 2023. Stewart leveraged his success to become the head coach at athletic powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale.
Zykia McNair, who was an assistant coach with the Bucs last season, takes over as the new head coach. McNair graduated from Mainland in 2011 after transferring from DeLand following her sophomore year. She went on to play basketball at Eastern Florida State College, Bishop State Community College in Alabama and Concordia College Alabama, where she won a small-school national championship.
Mainland is her first head coaching job, though she also coaches an AAU team — Global Not Local — out of DeLand. The Bucs graduated three seniors, all of whom will be playing college sports this year: Anovia Sheals (Austin Peay State) and Tia Dobson (North Carolina Wilmington) in basketball and Alexandria Key (Barry University) in track. A couple of key underclassmen also transferred, so McNair will be rebuilding the program.
Is it a dream come true to be named Mainland’s head coach?
Yes, but when you trust in God, anything is possible.
Have you always wanted to be a coach?
Yes I have. I’ve been playing ball since I was 5 years old. When I finished I wanted to get everything balanced so I could give back to the community and teach everything that has been taught to me.
Did you learn a lot in your one year coaching with Stewart?
We’ve known each other for a couple of years. He helped me adapt to how to deal with the new generation. He opened my eyes to lot of ways to teaching basketball. He had a big impact on me, so I’m excited.
Who were some of your other mentors in basketball?
Terrence Anthony (Mainland’s current athletic director), was my high school basketball coach (with the Bucs). Renee Bellamy, who is from DeLand, was my coach at Eastern Florida State. I played for her my first two years in college. My dad said, ‘You’re going to go there and play for her.’ She’s been a mentor of mine ever since. And Derrick Powe, who was my coach at Bishop State.
With several key players gone, will expectations be tempered this year?
We still breed basketball players here, so we’re going to be just fine this year.
Are you sorry to see the underclassmen leave the program?
They didn’t know who was going to be the head coach, so they did what was best for them. I’ll still love and support those kids from a distance.
