Winston Gandy faces past as future beyond South Carolina approaches
Before South Carolina assistant Winston Gandy heads to Phoenix for his first head coaching gig at Grand Canyon University, he gets a chance to face off against the school where everything started for him.
Gandy served as a practice player for Brenda Frese’s Maryland Terrapins while an undergraduate student at the university from 2009-13. He went on to serve as the program’s director of recruiting coordination from 2013-14.
“So happy for Winston. And you know, no one deserves it more,” Frese said. “I mean, the way he works, the relationships that he’s developed over his career, it’s appropriate that he’s ready for his next step and his progression as a head coach.”
Frese said Grandy reached out via text before Grand Canyon announced the hire. Grandy had reached out needing a quote before his first press conference.
“What a tremendous hire for Grand Canyon University with Winston Gandy,” Frese said in the statement to Grand Canyon. “I can personally tell you, all of the time I’ve spent with Winston, he was so impactful every single day on our staff all the way from a scout guy to support staff in our program.”
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Gandy has been a vital member of the South Carolina staff in his two seasons with the program. After defeating Iowa in the 2024 National Championship, Dawn Staley credited him with scouting the Hawkeyes. Staley also praised Gandy for the Gamecocks’ halftime adjustments in the 2025 SEC Championship win over the Texas Longhorns.
“His scout was amazing,” Raven Johnson said. “Everything he had on that scout was right. The way to play her (Caitlin Clark), her weaknesses … I’m asking him ‘How do you know this?’ And it’s just like he stayed up hours and hours trying to find her weakness. Not just her weakness, the other player’s weakness (too).”
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Staley said they knew they were on borrowed time when he joined the staff.
“We were hoping to get a little bit more time with him,” Staley said. “But, you know, duty calls for him to be a head coach and move 12 inches over. Super happy, couldn’t happen to a better person, a better coach.”
Raven Johnson said Gandy works on every player’s shot. He makes sure nobody leaves the gym until everyone gets 100 shots.
“I think Grand Canyon, they’re getting a good head coach, a coach that knows how to win,” Johnson said. “Not just at South Carolina. He’s been at a lot of other programs winning.”
Gandy could also have a second trip down memory lane in Birmingham. The Gamecocks and Duke Blue Devils play games against the Terrapins and North Carolina, respectively Friday for a spot in the Birmingham Regional 2 Final. Gandy served as the associate head coach of the Blue Devils from 2022-23.
“Pretty special that we do get to see each other one more time before he takes off as the new head coach,” Frese said.
