In a career which spans 22 years, Ernest Shand joins the Glendale Community College Gauchos as their new Women’s Basketball Head Coach.
Coach Shand was most recently a Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach under Frank Woodford at Benedictine University Mesa in Mesa, AZ. His tenure with the Redhawks included a CAL PAC Men’s Basketball Championship runner-up finish in 2021-22. After beating the #3 and #2 seeds, the Redhawks earned a bid to the NAIA National Tournament for the second year in a row.
Prior to moving back to the valley in 2021, Coach Shand spent a few years away expanding his coaching resume at the NCAA DII and NAIA levels.
He served as the Interim Men’s Basketball Head Coach at NAIA Graceland University in Lamoni, IA after beginning that 2nd season as an Asst. Coach and his 1st as Recruiting Coordinator for the Yellowjackets. There, he coached an NAIA All-American (HM) along with multiple ‘HEART’ All-Conference players.
Before that, Shand was a Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator at NCAA DII Albany St. University in Albany, GA. At Albany St., he assisted in the daily operations of the program and was responsible for on-court/in-game coaching, opponent scouting along with recruiting and player skill development. Those efforts helped lead the Golden Rams to a second place finish in the East Division of the SIAC – it would be the program’s best finish since 2012-13, their most wins overall since 2013-14 and the best conference playoff finish since 2007 (SIAC Final Four).
Throughout his career, he’s also coached at the NCAA DIII (SUNYIT), NJCAA DI (Mesa CC) & DII (Genesee CC) levels. His career includes leading programs at two Arizona High Schools – Horizon Honors and Salt River – as well.
While working alongside Arizona coaching legend Sam Ballard, Shand helped lead Mesa CC to a 52-36 conference record in the ACCAC. They earned a postseason berth each year he was there including a Region I championship runner-up finish in 2014-15. There, Shand coached 19 student-athletes who went on to four-year schools, 7 All-ACCAC players and an NJCAA All-American.
During the 2000-01 season while attending Genesee Community College in Batavia, NY, Coach Shand completed a Coaching Internship where he assisted in day-to-day basketball operations as well as on-court coaching and coordinating on-campus recruiting visits for the school’s first-ever NJCAA Div. II, Region III, District 18 Championship team. Going 28-5 that season, they were also the institution’s first-ever NJCAA Div. II Men’s Basketball National Championship Tournament participant finishing sixth in the nation in Danville, IL.
He then spent two years as a Men’s Basketball Student Assistant Coach at NCAA DIII SUNY Institute of Technology (now SUNY Polytechnic) in Utica, NY. Hired as an Assistant Coach after graduating in 2004, the 2005-06 SUNYIT Wildcats were among the school’s most successful – earning their first-ever postseason victory along the way to the school’s first-ever SUNYAC Championship game appearance and subsequent runner-up finish. Overall, as a college coach, Shand has coached/mentored 14 student-athletes who’ve gone on to play at the professional level overseas along with 6 All-Americans and 13 All-Conference selections.
During his time as a Head Coach, Coach Shand became the winningest boys varsity basketball coach at Salt River HS and then again at Horizon Honors HS. His 2011-12 Eagles tied the boys basketball school record with 19 wins in a season and posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in boys basketball school history. By the end of 2014-15, he’d captured over 100 total wins in his Head Coach career.
Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Coach Shand relocated to Arizona in 2006 and currently resides in Ahwatukee with his two children Sydney, 15 and Malachy (pronounced Ma-la-kai), 12. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from SUNY Poly and earned a Master of Education degree from Northern Arizona University in Educational Leadership. Recently, Coach Shand ventured into coaching club/AAU basketball with the AZ Fire organizations 15/16U girls program.
https://www.gauchoathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/releases/20230705ffut9i
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