Winston Gandy figured he might as well open his Grand Canyon coaching era against the best.
His women’s basketball team will face national powerhouse South Carolina in Columbia on Nov. 3. It is part of the home-and-home series the two institutions agreed to. In 2026, the Gamecocks will travel to Phoenix to play GCU. The rest of GCU’s non-conference schedule will be announced on Aug. 18.
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South Carolina has reached the past five NCAA Women’s Final Fours under coach Dawn Staley. Gandy was part of Staley’s coaching staff the past two seasons.
South Carolina assistant coach Winston Gandy has been named the head women’s basketball head coach at Grand Canyon.
He was instrumental in the Gamecocks’ 38-0 national championship season two years ago. His last season was 2024-25 when the Gamecocks reached the NCAA final.
Following South Carolina’s 87-75 national title win over Iowa and Caitlin Clark in 2024, Staley, in an ESPN court interview, gave credit to Gandy for his work with the team’s perimeter players and his scouting plan against Iowa.
“I don’t know a better way to start the season,” Gandy said in a GCU release that was issued Aug. 15. “Dawn and South Carolina have been the gold standard in women’s basketball. We desire to take our program to another level. Sometimes, it’s important to measure yourself against the best.”
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When Gandy arrived in Phoenix this spring, he wanted to aggressively pursue a tough non-conference schedule to get a rebuilt roster ready for the school’s first season playing in the Mountain West Conference.
South Carolina will be the highest-ranked opponent in GCU women’s basketball history. Last year, when the Lopes won 30 games in Molly Miller’s final season before taking the same job at Arizona State, Oregon, at No. 23, was the first Top 25 team they had played since the 2017-18 season when they faced No. 12 Duke.
Since 2008, South Carolina has won three national championships (2017, ’22, and ’24) and nine SEC titles with a 475-110 record under Staley.
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GCU women’s basketball opens Winston Gandy era at South Carolina
