The 2018-19 season will mark the first for Ernest Shand as an Assistant Coach with the Albany State University Golden Rams Men’s Basketball program. He comes to ASU after completing four years as a Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach at Mesa Community College (MCC) in Mesa, AZ; his last 2 seasons, he was also the Recruiting Coordinator for the T-birds. In his role, Coach Shand was responsible for on-court/in-game coaching, running summer camps, and recruiting across the Southwest region of the country. He worked alongside Arizona coaching legend Sam Ballard and helped lead MCC to an overall record of 68-50 while going 52-36 in the ACCAC during his tenure. ‘Mesa’ earned a post-season berth each year including two conference championship game appearances. As the Recruiting Coordinator – Coach Shand built relationships and established contacts across Arizona, neighboring states, and even internationally – leading toward signing current NCAA DI student-athletes from Geneva, Switzerland now at Youngstown St. and from Surprise, AZ via Houston, TX now at Marshall University. Before departing for ASU, he had recruited/signed 11 student-athletes from across the country – including two International players from Spain and Australia, respectively. During his career at MCC, he coached 19 student-athletes who went on to four-year schools, 7 All-Conference players and 1 NJCAA All-American.
Coach Shand has learned from many prominent coaches throughout the various roles he’s adhered to in his 17 year career. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he attended New Utrecht HS and learned from Coach Ron Vernon. ‘Coach Vern’ was pivotal in fostering Shand’s desire to empower young people through the game of basketball. Ernest’s decision to foster his love for coaching continued at Genesee Community College (GCC) in Batavia, New York under legendary Coach Bill Van Gundy. It was there that Shand learned the importance of utilizing game-film for opponent scouting and player development. In 2001-02, while still at GCC, Ernest was an Intern for Coach Michael vonSchiller where he assisted in day-to-day basketball operations on 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 National Championship Tournament participant finishing 6th in the nation.
Coach Shand then attended the SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica, New York where he was a Student Assistant under current Athletic Director Kevin Grimmer - who gave Ernest his first experience in recruiting while at the NCAA DIII level. Upon graduating in 2004 with his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, Coach Shand was hired as an Assistant Coach. The 2005-06 Wildcats were among the school’s most successful ever under then Head Coach Tom Murphy – earning their first-ever post-season victory along the way to the school’s first ever SUNYAC Championship game appearance. Coach Shand was responsible for creating opponent scouting reports and helped assemble one of the programs’ strongest recruiting classes that year; most notably, he recruited Ajani Edwards who became the university’s all-time leader in steals and assists in a season & career.
In 2007, Coach Shand was named the Boys Varsity Basketball Head Coach at Salt River HS in Scottsdale, Arizona. While earning a Master of Education degree from NAU in Educational Leadership – Ernest became the winningest boys’ basketball coach at Salt River and after three years at the helm, he took the same position at Horizon Honors HS in Ahwatukee/Phoenix, AZ. His 2011-12 team tied the school record with 19 wins in a season and posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in school history. By the end of 2014-15, he’d earned the most wins by any boys’ basketball coach at the school on his way to capturing win number 100 overall in his career during his final season in which he also began adhering to recruiting & coaching responsibilities as a Volunteer Asst. Coach at MCC.
Looking forward to fully embracing this career-advancing opportunity – Coach Shand is grateful to learn from Coach Gayle and the Golden Rams’ athletic department administration/staff & university leaders. He believes firmly in our mission at ASU and will represent the program with pride and dignity everywhere he goes & in all he does.
“I’m honored & truly grateful to our Head Coach Patrick Gayle and Athletic Director Sherie Gordon for welcoming me as a member of the Albany St. University Golden Rams family. To be here at the start of this journey with Coach Gayle is an opportunity I’ll forever be thankful for. I believe in Coach’s vision and can’t wait to get to work building a program everyone will love to support. Submerging myself in the rich culture of our school-community is a top priority; followed by recruiting, developing and retaining young leaders who are high-character, hard-working, talented student-athletes who want to succeed both in the classroom and on the court.”
