Derek Starks is in his fourth season as the men's and women's diving coach at the University of California, Berkeley. He was selected to lead the Golden Bears' diving program in August 2016.
Starks' men's team was part of Cal's sixth all-time NCAA team championship in the 2018-19 season. The men's divers also received CSCAA Scholar-All-American Team honors in January 2019, marking three straight academic semesters of earning the award. Connor Callahan and Johnny Robinson qualified for their third and second consecutive NCAA Championships, respectively. Earlier in the season, Callahan set a school record on the 1-meter (379.28) to lead Cal to a dual meet victory over Pacific (Oct. 3).
In 2017-18, Starks helped Robinson earn Pac-12 Diving Newcomer of the Year honors; Robinson was just the second Bear ever to win the award, joining Javier Rivas. Callahan and Robinson both reached the NCAA Championships.
In his first year at Cal (2016-17), Starks mentored Phoebe LaMay, who set women's school records on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards as she qualified for the NCAA Championships in both events. Callahan also qualified for NCAA Championships on the men's side, becoming the first male diver at Cal to qualify since 2015.
Starks brought extensive experience to the Golden Bears with more than 10 years in the coaching profession along with an All-American career at the University of Miami. In addition to his stint at UNLV, he served as National and International Team Director with Mission Viejo Nadadores Diving for six years and spent more than two years on the USA Diving Board of Directors. He was also the head coach of High Stakes Diving Club in Las Vegas from 2014-16.
While at UNLV, Starks helped build Rebel diving into a competitive program, with the men’s team breaking every school record. In 2015-16, senior Lucas James became the first diver in UNLV history to win a Western Athletic Conference championship on the platform, setting a league record during his performance. James was the first Rebel to win any conference diving event since 1987. Outside of the pool, both the men’s and women’s swimming & diving programs at UNLV were chosen CSCAA Scholar All-America teams for spring 2016 semester.
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As coach at Mission Viejo, Starks helped the team win a total of 14 medals at age-group national championships and 26 junior national championship medals. He was a diving coach at the 2011 Junior Pan American Games. As a diver at Mission Viejo, Starks was a junior world bronze medalist and multiple-time national champion.
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Starks earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration (entrepreneurship) from Miami in 2007. He was the 2006 ACC Diver of the Year and received All-American honors on platform in 2004 and ’05 and on the 1-meter board in 2006. As a freshman, he was named the Big East Most Outstanding Diver. Starks competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials, the World Cup Team Trials and USA Diving Nationals.
Starks and his wife, Danielle, live in Concord. They have a daughter, Joelle.
