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South Carolina assistant Winston Gandy, part of the Gamecocks' 38-0 national championship staff in 2024, has been named the new women's basketball coach at Grand Canyon University.
He is being introduced at GCU on Monday morning at a news conference.
Gandy, in his second season as a South Carolina assistant this year, replaces Molly Miller, who left after an historic 32-3 March Madness season to become the Arizona State head coach. GCU was eliminated from the NCAA women's tournament by Baylor on Friday, 73-60. That ended their nation-longest 30-game winning streak.
Gandy intends to stay with the Gamecocks through the NCAA tournament before joining the Lopes.
Gandy is a nationally renowned recruiter, developing top talent from the reigning national champions. The Gamecocks are in another postseason run, advancing Sunday to the Sweet 16.
Before working as an assistant under Dawn Staley, he had assistant coaching stops at Duke and Rice. He was director of recruiting at Maryland, and spent three seasons in the the NBA as director of player development with the Washington Wizards.
As an associate head coach at Duke, he helped the Blue Devils reach the NCAA Tournament in 2023 with a 26-7 record, going 14-4 in the ACC. He was the associate head coach at Duke for three years, before going to South Carolina.
"Our goal is to have a top-25 women's basketball program in the country, and we identified someone who has recruited, coached and developed elite players at the very highest levels in college basketball and in the NBA," GCU President Brian Mueller said in a school release. "He is a highly sought-after star in the world of women's college basketball. He has turned down numerous other opportunities, and he chose GCU."
GCU worked quickly to find a new coach after Miller expressed a desire to explore other head coaching opportunities.
With the transfer portal opening Tuesday, the Lopes wanted a new coach in place. Their top 10 contributors have exhausted their college basketball eligiblity.
This was GCU's first season in Miller's five years as coach the team won the WAC tournanent title and made it to the NCAA women's tournament.
GCU could start its move from the WAC to the Mountain West Conference as early as this summer.
"As we prepare to move into a very competitive basketball conference, we prioritized identifying a coach who has recruited, coached and developed players at the highest level," GCU Athletic Director Jamie Boggs said in the school statement.
"Winston has a long history of proven success, multi-year championships and experience advancing deep into the NCAA tournament. What makes him stand out above all others is that he has incredible vision,'' Bogg said. ''He has been to our campus, he understands the support we are surrounded with, and he has the vision to see the national success we are capable of. As one of the largest private Division I universities in the country, we have the resources to attract the most elite coaches. We chose Winston."
(This is a developing story and will be updated after Monday's news conference).
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at[email protected] or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: South Carolina assistant will replace Molly Miller at GCU
Continue reading...
He is being introduced at GCU on Monday morning at a news conference.
Gandy, in his second season as a South Carolina assistant this year, replaces Molly Miller, who left after an historic 32-3 March Madness season to become the Arizona State head coach. GCU was eliminated from the NCAA women's tournament by Baylor on Friday, 73-60. That ended their nation-longest 30-game winning streak.
Gandy intends to stay with the Gamecocks through the NCAA tournament before joining the Lopes.
Gandy is a nationally renowned recruiter, developing top talent from the reigning national champions. The Gamecocks are in another postseason run, advancing Sunday to the Sweet 16.
Before working as an assistant under Dawn Staley, he had assistant coaching stops at Duke and Rice. He was director of recruiting at Maryland, and spent three seasons in the the NBA as director of player development with the Washington Wizards.
As an associate head coach at Duke, he helped the Blue Devils reach the NCAA Tournament in 2023 with a 26-7 record, going 14-4 in the ACC. He was the associate head coach at Duke for three years, before going to South Carolina.
"Our goal is to have a top-25 women's basketball program in the country, and we identified someone who has recruited, coached and developed elite players at the very highest levels in college basketball and in the NBA," GCU President Brian Mueller said in a school release. "He is a highly sought-after star in the world of women's college basketball. He has turned down numerous other opportunities, and he chose GCU."
GCU worked quickly to find a new coach after Miller expressed a desire to explore other head coaching opportunities.
With the transfer portal opening Tuesday, the Lopes wanted a new coach in place. Their top 10 contributors have exhausted their college basketball eligiblity.
This was GCU's first season in Miller's five years as coach the team won the WAC tournanent title and made it to the NCAA women's tournament.
GCU could start its move from the WAC to the Mountain West Conference as early as this summer.
"As we prepare to move into a very competitive basketball conference, we prioritized identifying a coach who has recruited, coached and developed players at the highest level," GCU Athletic Director Jamie Boggs said in the school statement.
"Winston has a long history of proven success, multi-year championships and experience advancing deep into the NCAA tournament. What makes him stand out above all others is that he has incredible vision,'' Bogg said. ''He has been to our campus, he understands the support we are surrounded with, and he has the vision to see the national success we are capable of. As one of the largest private Division I universities in the country, we have the resources to attract the most elite coaches. We chose Winston."
(This is a developing story and will be updated after Monday's news conference).
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at[email protected] or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: South Carolina assistant will replace Molly Miller at GCU
Continue reading...
