New Grand Canyon women’s basketball head coach Winston Gandy named his coaching staff, adding years of experience, high-level recruiting and postseason experience to the Lopes sidelines.
Former North Texas head coach Jalie Mitchell will be GCU’s associate head coach with Matt Shewmake, Julia Ford, Tez Dumars and Chloe Rice joining Gandy’s staff as assistant coaches.
Jalie Mitchell / Associate Head Coach
Mitchell strengthens Gandy’s first staff as GCU associate head coach after coaching 15 seasons, the last eight of which came as head coach at North Texas, her alma mater.
Mitchell was named head coach of North Texas prior to the 2015-16 season after serving as a Mean Green assistant for the two seasons prior. She led North Texas to three postseason appearances, including two WNIT berths and the WBI finals in 2019.
As the Mean Green moved to Conference USA in 2013, Mitchell led North Texas to back-to-back seasons of 10 or more conference wins (2020-22) for the second time in program history. She coached Terriell Bradley to All-CUSA first-team honors in 2017-18 and 2018-19, the first Mean Green player to earn first-team accolades in nine seasons.
Under Mitchell, the Mean Green defense ranked in the top 25 nationally for scoring defense (56.2 opponent points per game) and turnover margin (plus-5.48 per game) in 2017-18 and 19th in 3-point percentage defense (26.4%) in 2020-21.
Prior to North Texas, Mitchell was an assistant coach at Texas for three seasons from 2012-15, when the Longhorns went 60-41 and made the NCAA Tournament twice, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2015. Mitchell was instrumental in recruiting Ariel Atkins, the 2017 Big 12 Player of the Year and WNBA Draft No. 7 pick, and All-American Brooke McCarty.
Mitchell had two assistant coach stints with North Texas and served as assistant coach for UNC Wilmington for one season in 2010-11, helping guide the Seahawks to a 24-9 record and the second round of the WNIT.
Mitchell was a prolific player in college, leading North Texas to new heights from 1998-2002. She was a four-time all-conference selection and 2002 Sun Belt Player of the Year, averaging 19.4 points per game as a senior. She is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,764 points and had her No. 44 jersey retired on Senior Night.
Mitchell was inducted into the North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007 as well as the Dallas Independent School District Athletic Hall of Honor in 2015.
Matt Shewmake / Assistant Coach
Shewmake comes aboard at GCU with 15 years of coaching experience and will serve as assistant coach on Gandy’s staff.
After beginning his career at the college ranks, Shewmake spent the past two seasons as Montverde Academy’s girls basketball head coach in Montverde, Florida, leading the Eagles to a 49-5 record and the 2024 Chipotle National Championship title.
Continuing the success of one of the best high school girls basketball programs in the nation, Shewmake coached four Jersey Mike’s Naismith All-Americans in Jaloni Cambridge (2024 Maxpreps National Player of the Year), Saniyah Hall, Aaliyah Crump and Agot Makeer, and coached seven Division I signees ranked in espnW’s HoopGurlz top 100.
Prior to Montverde Academy, Shewmake was head coach of The Webb School girls basketball program in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, from 2020-2023, which did not have a winning season before his arrival. He guided Webb to three consecutive state championships in his first three seasons at the helm, and coached eight all-state players, a Tennessee Miss Basketball and a McDonald’s All-American while posting a record of 91-11.
Shewmake has five seasons of collegiate coaching experience, with his most recent position being associate head coach at UC Riverside from 2019-20. He coached the Big West’s leading scorer in Jannon Otto as the Highlanders finished as the best rebounding team in the Big West.
His first associate head coaching position came at Northwest Florida State College from 2017-19. He helped oversee the biggest one-year turnaround in winning percentage in the entire National Junior College Athletic Association.
Every sophomore during his tenure graduated and moved on to either a D-I or D-II school. His Raiders teams made two NJCAA Elite Eight appearances, won the 2018-19 Panhandle Conference championship and ranked No. 1 in the country in 2018-19. He was instrumental in the first NJCAA signing of a McDonald’s All-American, Elijah Booths.
As an assistant coach, Shewmake spent one season at CSU Fullerton in 2016-17, with two seasons at Middle Tennessee State as a director of scout and video in 2014-16 and one season as video coordinator at Virginia Commonwealth in 2013-14.
He began his coaching career with Tennessee Flight EYBL, starting as an assistant and working his way to head coach from 2009-13, leading the team to the 2012 Nike National Championship for 17U and 16U.
Shewmake’s accolades include three Tennessee state championships, the 2023 Pat Summit Coach of the Year award and a 145-16 record as a head coach with 28.7 wins per season. Shewmake has coached four McDonald’s All-Americans, 21 D-I players, 13 all-district players and 10 all-state selections.
Julia Ford / Assistant Coach
Ford begins her first season on the GCU staff as assistant coach after previously serving the same role at Missouri last season.
Ford brings in six years of coaching experience, moving from graduate assistant at Clemson to assistant coach at Missouri. She spent the past two seasons with the Tigers, serving as special assistant to the head coach in 2023-24 before moving into the assistant role in 2024-25.
Ford aided the development of Grace Slaughter, who led the Tigers in scoring (15.0 points per game) and was named SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Ford coached Slaughter into becoming one of the best 3-point shooters in the country, going from 37.1% her freshman year to 45.9% her sophomore season.
In 2022-23, Ford led film study efforts and oversaw development of 2022-23 SEC All-Freshman player Ashton Judd, who like Slaughter, improved her offensive production under Ford from 7.4 points per game to 13.4 points per game.
Ford’s player development skills were quickly noticed around the SEC and the nation, as Slaughter and Abby Schreacke were among the country’s best freshmen. Slaughter earned All-SEC Freshman Team accolades and ranked fourth among first-year players in scoring (11.6 ppg) while Schreacke led the conference’s freshman class in 3-point percentage (38.4%).
Ford’s expertise also goes to the defensive side as Mama Dembele notched All-SEC Defensive Team recognition, ranking top 10 nationally in steals and assists.
Prior to Missouri, Ford spent the 2022-23 season at Coastal Carolina, leading the development of two All-Sun Belt honorees.
She began her collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Clemson from 2020-22, helping players on and off the court with improvement through instructional training, film and character development.
Ford spent the summers of 2016-17 and 2020-21 with the USA Basketball women’s program, preparing elite athletes and coaches for competition through facilitating practice and accommodations.
Ford played four seasons of collegiate basketball at Bentley under Hall of Fame head coach Barbara Stevens.
Tez Dumars / Assistant Coach
Dumars takes on a GCU assistant coach role with a high-level coaching and player development resume, including previous stops at Kansas State, Louisiana Tech and North Texas.
The Dallas native served as a women’s basketball assistant coach at North Texas and Louisiana Tech, where he coached All-Conference USA first-team players Anna Larr Roberson and Quincy Noble in consecutive seasons.
Following the 2022-23 season at North Texas and 2023-24 seasons at Louisiana Tech, Dumars joined the Kansas State men’s basketball staff while obtaining a graduate degree in counseling and student development. His Wildcats work included skill development with All-Big 12 honorees Coleman Hawkins (third team) and David N’Guessan (honorable mention).
Before his stints coaching in college basketball, Dumars served as the assistant director and the 16U head coach of FAM Elite, an Adidas 3SSB club based in Houston. His team won an Adidas 3SSB National Championship in its first year on the Adidas circuit.
A terrific player in college, Dumars graduated from West Texas A&M, where he left as the program’s No. 4 all-time leading scorer with 1,230 points while playing in 112 games. He returned to coach his alma mater and helped lead the 2018-19 Buffaloes to a 34-4 record, Lone Star Conference regular season and tournament titles, and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
While at West Texas A&M, he worked with NABC All-American Ryan Quaid, 2019 Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year Qua Grant and all-conference selection Joel Murray.
Prior to coaching, Dumars played overseas with Anagennises Germasogeia and ForexTime Apollon of the Cyprus Division A-League from 2015-18, where he averaged 18.5 points in his first pro season. Dumars is the founder and executive of Amarillo’s West Texas Premier Basketball Club.
Chloe Rice / Assistant Coach
Rice joins the GCU staff as an assistant coach after working for Hall of Fame head coach Dawn Staley on South Carolina’s last three Final Four teams, including the past two years with Gandy on the Gamecocks’ bench. Rice was an assistant recruiting coordinator for South Carolina this past season, when the Gamecocks reached their second consecutive national championship game.
She served as a graduate assistant from June 2022 to May 2024, including South Carolina’s 2023-24 national championship season and 2022-23 Final Four season. She assisted with opponent scouting reports and the planning of the Dawn Staley Basketball Camps, among other duties.
Rice played collegiately at Saint Louis and Bradley, aiding Bradley to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021. Rice, a guard from Marion, Iowa, was named Bradley’s team captain during the 2021-22 season and earned Missouri Valley Conference Honor Roll in 2021 and 2022.
During her time as a student-athlete, Rice worked in the office of athletic communications at Bradley, serving as a sports information director intern.
Rice graduated from Bradley in Sports Communication and added a master’s degree in Sports and Entertainment Management last year at South Carolina.
https://gculopes.com/news/2025/4/17/womens-basketball-gandy-announces-womens-basketball-staff.aspx
Tagged with: WAC
