Mississippi Delta Community College coach Derrick Fears is carrying on lessons he learned from his parents and coaches.
Derrick was born March 30, 1968, to Thomas Piques and Dorothy Jean Fears in Memphis. He is married to Victoria Watkins; with their union are three children – Khalid Fears and Shaquivious and Nicole Watkins.
He received his associate of arts degree from Northeast Mississippi Community College, Bachelor of Science in business administration from Mississippi College and Master of Science in communications from Mississippi College as well.
Derrick is a faithful member of Higher Heights Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Gary Perryman. His hobbies include spending time with family, traveling and mentoring young men and women.
Derrick teaches public speaking at Mississippi Delta Community College, where he is also the head coach for the men’s basketball team.
“I love basketball!!! It’s opened doors of which I was unaware and provided me with mentors and role models that I’ve watched, emulated and aspired to become,” Derrick said with conviction.
His mom, Dorothy Fears Ross, and his bonus father, J.D. Ross, were his first mentors.
“They put the time in with me as a child, lit the fire and desire in me to play basketball, and pushed me to educate myself,” he shared.
Coach Terry Tippett, his high school coach, gave him his first opportunity to play organized basketball. He took a chance on a skinny tenth grader who didn’t play much in junior high school.
Coach Tippett also took Derrick on his first college visit. Coach Childers and Coach Mike Jones were his college coaches who taught him so much.
“Those guys where great men and teachers,” continued Derrick. And lastly Ron Woodard, head coach at Claflin University at the time, was a great basketball mind. He taught him how to treat his assistant coach.
Every coach wants to win a championship, which is a dream of Derrick’s. “But more importantly I want to see the young men whose lives I’ve impacted become successful people, good men, good fathers, and good husbands. I want them to be successful in life. That is more rewarding than you know,” he smiled.
Derrick does lots of work and volunteer work with Annie’s House, an assisted living community for men and women who may be without families, support from family or financial assistance. Those individuals get to spend time at MDCC basketball games and meet and greet many of his players.
He spends time there mentoring them. Derrick helps with feeding them on some holidays. He also does youth basketball camps in the area and volunteers time with his daughters’ dance team, NV’s Dancing Dolls.
One of Derrick’s goals is to start some kind of cancer awareness movement. He just recently lost his mother to cancer.
To him, cancer is this “thing” that sucks the life out of not only its victims but also out of the loved ones of those victims. It affects everyone – directly or indirectly – and he wants to be a part of the fight to cure it and get rid of it all together.
Derrick would also love to finish his second master’s from the University of Memphis and graduate from his dream college.
He is 12 hours away from completing it. It was something he began before he started coaching at the college level a long time ago. Moreover, he would love to start some type of business venture or become an administrator in his next career.
He is praying and asking the Lord to send that idea his way.
Of all the hats he wears, being a great dad is the role in which Derrick has the most pride.
Before he was married, he gained custody of his son. He got a chance for many of his players to see him raise a son, how to treat him, and so on.
“I coach my players as if I’m their father and many of them look to me as if I am their second father,” he said humbly.
He wants them to learn how to treat a woman, their children, and people in general; how to carry themselves in public; how to be a man and give respect and earn it. Derrick considers himself a life skills coach first and a basketball coach second. Many young men would have not been exposed to certain things until they encountered him: how to dress, eat in restaurants, and travel to other states.
He said, “You will be surprised what you have to teach the young men who come into your life.”
There are a few quotes that Derrick has lived by, and he has no problem with passing on those quotes. With using the quotes, he tells his players repeatedly that sports (basketball) will last two—maybe four—years for them, then they have the rest of their lives.
“What do you do after? What’s your plan?” he asks them often. Quotes that he shares with his players are “Boys to men,” “We can be Heroes!!!!!!!” and “Anything is possible!!!!!!”
He loves those quotes because he feels he can help save lives by reiterating and instilling them in all who cross his path.
