Coach and Teacher
Ms. McCarty was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on October 24, 1951, the daughter of Norma Shearin McCarty and the late Ed McCarty. After living in Dallas and then Atlanta, Denise relocated to Jackson, Tennessee at the age of 5 ½ with her mom, sister, and brother.
She learned to play basketball on the parking lot of Calvary Baptist Church, then on Lexington Avenue in East Jackson, near the former Union University campus. She was taught the fundamentals of basketball at Jackson Junior High by coaches Bobby Wilson and David Blackstock. Denise played basketball at Jackson High School under Coach Tury Oman.
In the fall of 1969, Ms. McCarty played on the first organized women’s basketball team and was the second Lady Bulldog to letter four years for varsity sports basketball, volleyball, tennis, and softball. She is a member of Chi Omega Fraternity.
After graduation from Union University in 1973 with a B.S. degree, she moved to Orlando, Florida, where she began a very successful teaching and coaching career at Conway Junior High School. She later moved to teach and coach at 4A high schools, Edgewater and Apopka. In her 18 years of coaching basketball she recorded 399 wins and only 61 losses.
Along the way, Ms. McCarty was named Coach of the Year by the Florida Athletic Association seven times; Orange County Metro Coach of the Year nine times; and in 1988 chosen by the Florida Coaches Association to coach the North All-Stars in the North-South Girls All-Star basketball game, winning the game 87-74.
In 1992, Ms. McCarty retired from coaching and was Dean of Student at Apopka High School and then assistant principal, later transferring to West Orange High School as assistant principal with 3800 students and supervising five deans. In 1993 Denise was honored at half time of the University of Florida-Florida State basketball game as one of the “Winningest High School Coaches” in the state of Florida, the only woman selected.
Ms. McCarty retired from the Orange County School System in 2005 and is currently principal for Community Education Partners School for students at risk. She was inducted into the Jackson-Madison County Hall of Fame on April 18, 2002.
