Northview’s David Chana Takes Over as Fort Myers boys basketball coach

After building a Michigan powerhouse, Chana heads south to lead Fort Myers High School, becoming the program’s third coach in three seasons

Grand Rapids Northview head coach David Chana reacts to a play against Warren De La Salle during the second half of an MHSAA Division 1 boys basketball state semifinal at Breslin Center in East Lansing on Friday, March 25, 2022 / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

One of the most decorated high school basketball coaches in the Michigan will be moving onto the Florida for the 2025-2026 season. Northview's David Chana is stepping down as the head boys basketball coach after six seasons with the Wildcats, where he led them to be one of the top teams in the state, according to Patrick Nothaft of MLive.com.

Chana will be the next head boys basketball coach at Fort Myers High School where he will be replacing Marcus Blythers who lasted just one season with the Green Wave, posting a record of 12-14 during the 2024-2025 season.

Before his time at Northview, Chana spent one season with Mona Shores High School in Norton Shores, Michigan, and three at Kenowa Hills, compiling a 28-55 (.337) winning percentage in those four seasons.

Chana will be the program's third head coach in as many years. Blythers replaced Keeth Jones, who retired from coaching following the 2023-2024 season. Jones arrived as the head coach at Fort Myers in 2019 after coaching at Lake Wales from 1993 to 2003 and winning the 2000 Class 4A State Championship with the Highlanders. Jones won 453 games during his 30-year coaching career.

“It’s a big school with a lot of resources, and I’m just excited and happy,” he said. “It was hard leaving my Northview kids back in Michigan, but my whole basketball team, we’ve always said, ‘We’ve got to use basketball to take us places in life,’ and when I met with the kids, Cam Ryans, specifically, was like, ‘Coach, this is what you need to do." Chana told Nothaft of MLive.com

"Northview was awesome through this whole process. They tried everything that they could do, but this wasn’t a Northview-versus-another-school thing. It was literally the Michigan Department of Education versus the Florida Department of Education, and this opportunity is one I just couldn’t pass up. I’m pushing 40, and it provides a level of security that I just didn’t have before", Chana added.

Chana logged a 102-34 (.750) winning percentage during his six seasons with the Wildcats, which included two conference titles, three district championships, one regional championship, and a final four appearance that came in 2022.

Northview won 25 games during that Final Four season in 2021-2022, where Chana coached Michigan's Mr. Basketball Player of the Year runner-up in Kyler Vanderjagt, who went onto play collegiate basketball at Central Michigan University.

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