Twenty years ago LaTasha Shipman-Ganus was winning CIAA championships for the Shaw University women’s basketball team. She piled up 1,000 career points and pulled over 700 career rebounds before graduating in 2004 with her degree, two championships and a 59-6 record in her last two seasons. Making sure you rubbed it in Saint Augustine’s face was part of the job as the rivalry goes between the two downtown Raleigh HBCUs. As life would have it, Shipman-Ganus was just named the head coach of SAU.
She’s no stranger to the Falcons program, she was an assistant coach on last year’s team that achieved its first winning record (15-13) since the 2010-2011 season.
Prior to joining Saint Augustine’s, Shipman-Ganus spent three seasons at Florida A&M, which was her second stint in Tallahassee. Known as a great recruiter, she helped bring in Mya Moye, who was the 2019 MEAC Rookie of the Year and led the Rattlers in scoring.
Shipman-Ganus has made her way around the CIAA as well, she was an assistant on a Livingstone team that went 24-1 during the regular season. Prior to her time in Salisbury she was an assistant at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She had the opportunity to coach under Wendy Palmer, a noted former WNBA player.
Shipman-Ganus was on the bench at FAMU for her first stint prior to going to UNCG. She spent four seasons initially with the Rattlers, she was responsible for developing players, recruiting, scouting, developing game plans, organizing community service, and assisting with practice planning.
Her first coaching experience came at Shaw University after her playing career was done. She helped the Lady Bears to three CIAA championships and a pair of NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances. Shipman-Ganus played overseas after graduating from Shaw, she averaged 26 points and 13 rebounds in Chile, South America.