BehindGandyMalou-Mamel's 11-month journey from Ireland to NJ to UConn women's basketball commitment

Jul. 27—Quinn, who helps kids from Ireland navigate the recruiting world of American colleges, knew instantly that Malou-Mamel was special.

She was athletic at 6-foot-5, grabbing rebounds with power. Sure, some of her skills were still raw, but she showed potential and a competitive work ethic.

Malou-Mamel, from Limerick, also reminded Quinn of himself back when he was 16 and moved to the United States from Ireland to play at Post University.

What he didn't expect was that within 11 months of her moving into his family's house in New Jersey, she'd have the attention of various top Division-I programs and hold a verbal commitment to UConn women's basketball.

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"I wanted to give her a real chance," Quinn said. "There was something about her. ... It's actually a pure stroke of luck. It really is. It's very cliche to the Irish, to be talking about luck, but I do think it's a very important root in Gandy's story."

Malou-Mamel is UConn's second commit of the Class of 2025 (joining Kelis Fisher) and when she officially becomes a Husky in a couple years, she'll become the program's first-ever player from Ireland. Thanks to Quinn, not only did her life forever change when she moved to the States last summer, but she's grown into a dominant post player with a tireless determination and passion for growth.

That Irish luck

Quinn was born and raised in Tipperary, Ireland. After a mentor helped him make the transition from Ireland to playing collegiately at Post in the late 1990s, he's made it his mission to help younger generations of Irish basketball players do the same. For the past seven years, Quinn has scouted top high school talent and given players and their families advice on how to manage recruitment and adjust to life in the States.

He was taken aback by Malou-Mamel's pure strength and ability just from watching her on that highlight clip nearly three years ago. And Quinn said she couldn't help but stand out as a tall, skilled Black girl in the Irish high school circuit.

Quinn reached out to local coaches to learn more and asked one of the local players he helps mentor to take her through a workout to get a better sense of her talent.

He flew to Limerick, Malou-Mamel's hometown in Ireland, three months later to meet her. And once he met her family, Quinn knew she was the right person to help.

Malou-Mamel has two younger brothers with special needs. Quinn also grew up with an older brother with special needs. He understood first-hand what it's like to care for a family member. He saw how caring for her brothers made Malou-Mamel empathic and compassionate toward others less fortunate.

"I knew there and then that was the moment I got to help this kid. That was it," Quinn said.

Of course, proposing the idea of her moving to America wasn't a totally easy sell. While Quinn was quite known in the Ireland basketball community for his efforts in helping high school players, the idea was still nerve-wracking.

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"I was shocked," Malou-Mamel said.

Malou-Mamel, now 17, hadn't thought about pursuing American colleges before Quinn. She picked up the sport in the sixth grade after playing soccer throughout her childhood. She loved basketball but wasn't sure what she'd do with the sport after high school. She didn't know yet where it could take her.

It helped that her parents, Giselle and Yves, supported the move.

As Congolese refugees, they understood opportunities to chase dreams don't come often. They wanted the best for their daughter and knew this was a way for her to follow her passion.

"They were less nervous than me. I was the nervous one," Malou-Mamel said. "Of course, they were very wary about who was bringing me and how I was gonna be in a new country. But at the end, when all of that was proven to be OK, they were the ones that were my biggest pushers, my biggest supporters. They were confident in me going and they lifted me up to be more excited to leave and excited to chase an opportunity that I wanted."

Over the following year-plus, the family became close with Quinn as he enrolled Malou-Mamel at his childrens' high school in New Jersey and began the needed documentation.

In August 2022, she made the 3,000-mile-plus tranatlantic trip to the East Coast and began her sophomore year of high school at Gill St. Bernard's School in Gladstone, New Jersey.

Adjusting to New Jersey

Malou-Mamel's first impression of living in the States was landing in the Big Apple.

When she got to New Jersey, she soon realized not all of America is like Times Square.

"I saw people dressed very differently (in New York) and more extravagant than in Ireland," she said with a laugh. "New Jersey kind of reminds me of Ireland, just hotter and much colder. It just feels like a bigger version of Ireland, honestly. There's a lot of green, there's a lot of suburbs, and it's very similar."

She moved into the Quinn's house and gained three siblings. Sidney, the Quinn's oldest child, is Malou-Mamel's age and is committed to playing for Navy. The Quinns also have a second teenager and an 8-year-old. Plus, both Quinn and his wife have experience navigating the college basketball recruiting world as both played collegiately (his wife at Colgate University).

Malou-Mamel joined Sidney on the varsity team at Gill St. Bernard's and immediately got to work training.

She admits she was nervous the first couple of practices. Basketball in the States was played a lot faster than in Ireland and the other players were more talented than those she'd played with back home.

Before the high school season started, she joined Sidney in a scrimmage against high school boys. It was after that that she knew she'd be OK.

"I scored some buckets. I got some blocks, and I was like, 'I think I can do this. If I can block a couple high school boys, why can't I play in high school here?' " she said.

Mark Gnapp, Gill St. Bernard's girls' basketball coach, helped ease Malou-Mamel into the high school scene. He and the other coaches worked with her after practice to help develop her game.

She learned how to properly take a layup, how to be comfortable shooting from the outside and how to use her body to find an open teammate after a rebound. She stopped traveling and learned how to efficiently guard man-to-man.

Malou-Mamel was always the first player in the gym and the last to leave. She'd stay back and ask Gnapp questions if she didn't understand a drill or wanted help perfecting a move under the basket.

"She was definitely a little behind in the beginning and then leading up to the season, she just got better every day," Gnapp said. "It's like something I've never seen, like how quickly she got better. It was so nice to see, just someone with that desire and passion and work ethic get better every day."

She started the season coming off the bench, but her minutes increased as the season went on and she got more comfortable. Gnapp says after losses, Malou-Mamel would approach him the next day and ask how she could be better.

In December, the team lost a starter to injury and Gnapp promoted Malou-Mamel. She had improved just as fast, if not faster, than any player he'd seen in his three decades of coaching.

Malou-Mamel took advantage of the new role and blossomed. She became more than just a rim protector and learned how to get out of opponents' double teams in the post. Gnapp was so impressed that he kept Malou-Mamel in the starting five even when the previous starter came back from injury. She finished her sophomore season, her first in the U.S., averaging 7.5 points and 6.9 rebounds in 27 games.

"She's the kid that's the reason why you love coaching," Gnapp said. "This year we had a lot of good players, so it was hard to give everyone the minutes they wanted and especially Gandy at the beginning. But she was a kid that never complained, just worked hard every day. So, that's why we love coaching. ... She impacted me by just making me love coaching even more."

Back in Ireland, coaches never gave Malou-Mamel the chance to stand out. They kept her on the bench and told her just to go after rebounds whenever she checked into games, said Quinn. Even when Quinn first reached out to inquire about her, he was told, "Oh that's Gandy, don't worry about her."

But now in the States, not only did Quinn and Gnapp believe in her, but so did her new teammates.

They supported her on the court and helped her grow through mistakes instead of letting her dwell on them. Malou-Mamel says in Ireland, teammates never rarely hung out outside of the gym. In New Jersey, her teammates became her friends. They got Starbucks together and were together during and after school.

"The fact that they stick together, even when they're not on the court, it's very welcoming," she said. "And I think that helps me feel like I'm part of something. And when I go into training, I feel like I'm part of a group that wants to win, that wants to do better and wants to stick together. So, you want to buy into that.

"And wanting to buy into something, you work hard. You want to work hard for your teammates, and that has been a huge help. Them being passionate, makes me want to be passionate too. So, I think that gave me the confidence to work harder, become a better player."

Committing to UConn

Malou-Mamel's transition to life in the States not only made her a better, more confident basketball player but also allowed her to dream big.

Colleges began reaching out to Quinn about Malou-Mamel last year. However, Quinn knew she had Power Five-level talent and wanted to wait for the right school instead of jumping at the first offer.

For the first time in her life, Malou-Mamel began thinking about what she could do with basketball. She watched former South Carolina star Aliyah Boston, a player Malou-Mamel looks up to, take her game to the next level during the April WNBA Draft and knew that's what she wanted too.

Malou-Mamel fell in love with basketball because of the sport's constant push to always better yourself than who you were the practice, or game, before. She thrives in the pursuit and challenge of growth and wanted to play for a college that would encourage that.

"The fact that you're constantly consistently learning every day, and you know, competing with your teammates, competing against other people, new people, you're never really going to be perfect," she said.

She was shocked when the Huskies' coaching staff reached out earlier this summer to express interest in her.

Geno Auriemma saw Malou-Mamel and her AAU team, the Jersey Gemz, at an EBYL tournament in Dallas in May and was impressed. Jersey Gemz is coached by former Rutgers star Patty Coyle, who was college teammates with UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey. A recruiting relationship quickly formed as the UConn staff wanted to know more about Malou-Mamel.

While other top colleges had expressed interest in her, many said they wanted to wait until her junior season to potentially extend an offer. UConn offered her a scholarship in June.

Quinn and Malou-Mamel took an unofficial visit to Storrs on June 21. While she experienced culture shock when first landing in New York, Storrs, on the other hand, felt like home.

"I liked it because it was quiet. It reminded me of a lot of places in Ireland," she said. "And the people feel like they're all in one community. I like that kind of family feeling especially being away from home.

"... It felt safe. Like, everyone felt safe walking around. And it seemed like no one was bored. There were always people together. I just liked the feeling of having a home. And I think a lot of the players and the coaches, they seem to have that home in UConn, and I wanted it too."

On July 13, Malou-Mamel committed to the Huskies. She was impressed how the international players adapted so quickly to living in Storrs and became family with the rest of the team. Hearing Auriemma's confidence in his international players made her feel comfortable.

"I decided to commit because it had no cons for me," Malou-Mamel said. "I want to go to the WNBA in the future and with their past with big players, I know I'll be a successful big. I won't, you know, be pushed aside over the guards.

"Guards and post (players) are looked after well, and I know they'll take care of me, seeing that a lot of their staff has a lot of UConn players. I want to have a safe, secure feeling when I graduate. And I'll have that at UConn. ... It just felt perfect for me as a player and a person."

Quinn knew Malou-Mamel was special from that very first highlight video. But he never could have imagined just how much of an impact she'd have on him, his family and Ireland's basketball history.

Before beginning her junior year at Gill St. Bernard's in September, Malou-Mamel is spending time back home in Ireland to visit family. She was invited to participate in Ireland's Senior National Team minicamp while she's home.

"What she's accomplished in 11 months, and she knows this, is beyond our wildest expectations," he said. "And she did it all. She's a great kid, and she's going to be a wonderful ambassador for UConn basketball and Irish basketball. ... She's a UConn Husky, 11 months after she arrived in America. It's one hell of a story."