Gandy Malou-Mamel bringing mature approach to freshman season

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Gandy Malou-Mamel bringing mature approach to freshman season

For the first time in years, UConn’s frontcourt looks to be the strength of the team.

Reigning All-American Sarah Strong is back for her second year. Jana El Alfy turned a corner during the NCAA Tournament and is one of the Huskies’ top breakout candidates. Ayanna Patterson should return after missing two straight seasons with injuries. Ice Brady will look to build on a few promising moments last year.

And those are just the returners.

UConn also reeled in Serah Williams, one of the top post players available in the transfer portal. Listed at 6-4, she was a two-time All-Big Ten First Team selection and earned the 2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award during her time at Wisconsin.

Then there’s freshman Gandy Malou-Mamel. Brought in for her future potential, there’s a lot of names ahead of her on the depth chart at the start of her college career. While some would be bothered by that, she’s viewing it as a positive.

“I don't think I can get discouraged being here where there's so many people to look up to and so many people I can take notes from and resonate my game with,” Malou-Mamel said. “I don't think I could get discouraged at a place like this where there's such great players and such great history because I'm just here to get better and to help contribute to the team as well.”

It’s a mature approach for a freshman, though Malou-Mamel is far from a typical first-year player. Growing up in Ireland, she began playing basketball in 2018 at age 12 and only started taking it seriously at age 15. She knew her best path for development lay outside Ireland — specifically the United States — but didn’t know how to get there.

Around the same time, Kieran Quinn — a former member of the Irish national basketball team who helps Irish players play college ball in the United States — was reviewing film of another player when Malou-Mamel caught his eye. He was immediately enthralled by her potential and soon offered to host her with his own family in New Jersey.

So at age 16, Malou-Mamel left her hometown of Limerick and moved to the United States to pursue a basketball career. One year later, she committed to UConn and at long last, her collegiate career is finally underway.

Given all she’s been through to this point — combined with the fact that she’ll turn 20 on New Year’s Eve — that maturity stood out to her head coach right away.

“Gandy is 18 going on 32,” Geno Auriemma said.

Listed at 6-5 with a strong frame, Malou-Mamel has the physical tools that teams covet but has to refine her skillset quite a bit. It’s unlikely she’ll make an immediate impact this season, though UConn knew that when it recruited her. The team’s stockpile of frontcourt talent likely impacted Malou-Mamel’s potential minutes, too, but it could still prove beneficial to the freshman.

With all the options down low, the Huskies can afford to be patient with her. Instead of getting thrown into the fire, she can focus on her own development early on.

“It's been great, it’s been hard, and it's a great learning experience,” she said. “I think the older guys have taught me and the other freshmen a lot of good lessons. The coaches have given me good tips as well, especially being in the post… I think I've learned a lot in the past few weeks already.”

Malou-Mamel will also benefit from all the talent around her. Over the past few years, UConn had to rely heavily on its male practice squad because it didn’t have enough healthy bodies to fill out multiple teams. But this season, Malou-Mamel will spend plenty of time battling the likes of Williams, El Alfy and the rest of the post players in practice. Those experiences should only help.

“It's great competition. I can focus more on how I'm going to play against other big players from other schools,” Malou-Mamel said. “I feel like playing in high school, a lot of girls have to try to compensate for my height and my strength, and here I'm just trying to battle and I can use my full force. I don't have to hold back. I can be a better rebounder, a better and stronger player because they are so strong and good.”

In particular, El Alfy has proven to be a good role model.

“I look up to Jana a lot in practice,” Malou-Mamel said. “I think she's such a force and we're similar body types, similar heights, and just looking at her and the way she uses her body and gets to the rim, and she uses her voice, I think that's the kind of force I want to be.”

Malou-Mamel hasn’t been exposed to high-level competition much to this point in her career. New Jersey high school teams didn’t have much size to match up with her while she mostly played regional AAU ball instead of the national EYBL or UAA circuit alongside most other Division I prospects. Malou-Mamel has gotten some international experience with Ireland, though they played in Division B of the FIBA U20 European Championships last summer.

As a result, the step up to UConn has taken some time to get used to.

“It's a whole different level. It's not high school anymore,” Malou-Mamel said. “It's a different speed. It's a different ball game altogether. It's quicker, so I just have to adjust and be a quicker player, a quicker thinker, and I feel like I've done better in the past few weeks with that.”

The summer weather has been an adjustment, too.

“Connecticut weather has been very hard on me. The past few days (in June), it's been like 100ºF and I keep having to search it on Siri [to see] it's 38ºC. So it's not very easy,” she laughed. “It was raining (one day) and I was like, ‘Thank God.’”

Malou-Mamel had no trouble integrating herself into the team, though. UConn has been her dream school ever since she came to the United States, so the shock of actually arriving on campus took a little while to wear off. Once it did, she settled in well — on and off the court.

“I feel like the first day was like, ‘Whoa, I'm literally here, and I'm gonna live here, I'm gonna come here and train,’” Malou-Mamel said. “But I feel like the girls are so welcoming, the coaches really want me to get better, and I haven't had to worry about me being here as a whole new world. I just jump right in and get better right away because of how welcoming everyone is.”

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