Coach Derius McInnis has been coaching with Team Charlotte travel ball team for the past 12 years. He has been an integral part of the growth and success for his cousin Jeff McInnis, who was a UNC and NBA standout. Derius attended and graduated from West Mecklenburg High School and Johnson C. Smith University. While his resume may not be as impressive as his cousin and mentor Jeff McInnis, don't let that fool you one bit.
Both Derius and Jeff have built Team Charlotte into a regional and national power. Starting out as 'Team Nobody,' Team Charlotte targeted young players in the Charlotte Metro area that were flying under the recruiting radar. They coached them hard, challenging the players from Team Charlotte to buy into their team philosophy of giving maximum effort every possession of the game. This attitude and mindset made Team Charlotte one of the toughest opponents in the country, not to mention Team Charlotte winning the Under Armour championship back in 2015.
That being said, coach Derius McInnis had enjoyed equal success as a travel ball coach. Like his cousin Jeff, Derius demands a lot from his players. He expects them to play hard, play with passion and learn team defensive principles which has been a staple of the Team Charlotte program. This season, Derius is coaching the 17U and 13U teams and both are developing a national reputation for being one of the top teams in their perspective age division. So far, Team Charlotte 17U is 12-0 for the season with impressive wins at the Ice Breaker event and winning the Phenom Queen City Showcase and just recently the Big Shots Carolina Live with signature wins over a very talented Team Loaded Virginia and Team Curry.
While Derius has coached this team mostly since middle school, it's easy to see the cohesiveness of this team. They play hard, but more importantly they play together. That being said, we have been even more impressed with his 13U team. This team is disciplined and Derius has done a masterful job in getting this young team to 'buy in' to his overall team first philosophy. Usually playing up an age group, Team Charlotte enjoyed another impressive weekend by winning the Big Shots Carolina Live in their perspective age group.
As the old saying goes, 'The proof is in the pudding, 'and over the years Derius McInnis has proven to be an excellent bench coach. Make no mistake, he is as passionate as they come, but is vastly underrated in his overall basketball knowledge and execution of X's and O's. His 17U team is already considered one of the top five teams in the country and it's time people give the credit that he deserves. He can coach with the best of them.