| Email: | ernest.shand@gccaz.edu |
| Hometown: | Brooklyn, NY |
| Title: | Head Coach |
| Phone: | 623-845-3047 |
Coach Shand's career spans 24 years to date; before becoming a Gaucho, he 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 and then achieved another National Tournament appearance for the second year in a row in 2022-23.
Prior to moving back to the valley in 2021, Coach Shand spent a few years away expanding his coaching resume at the NCAA DII level at Albany St. University in Albany, GA and then the NAIA level at Graceland University in Lamoni, IA. At Albany St., Coach Shand assisted in guiding the Rams to their best overall and conference finish since 2014. His time at Graceland culminated with him being named Interim Head Coach for the Men's Basketball team to closeout his second season with the Yellowjackets.
Throughout his career, he's also coached at the NCAA DIII (SUNYIT), NJCAA DI (Mesa CC) & DII (Genesee CC) levels. His head coaching career includes leading programs at two Arizona High Schools - Horizon Honors and Salt River - as well. He is still currently the winningest Boys Basketball Head Coach at both high schools.
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.
Overall, as a college coach, Shand has coached/mentored 18 student-athletes who've gone on to play at the professional level overseas along with 6 All-Americans and 16 All-Conference selections.
Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Coach Shand relocated to Arizona in 2006 and currently resides in Chandler with his future Wife, Sara and their beautifully blended family of six which includes - Quinn, 19; Sydney, 17; Amara, 16; and Malachy (pronounced Ma-la-kai), 14.
He has earned 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 - which ultimately led to him becoming the Head Coach of Gauchos Women's Basketball.
