When the NCAA tournament bracket was announced on Selection Sunday, South Carolina’s placement in the Sacramento region drew groans from people dreading the cross-country trek. But first-year assistant coach Wendale Farrow was elated.

For Farrow, playing in Sacramento for the regional means coming home. He grew up in North Highlands, about 20 minutes north of the Golden 1 Center, which is hosting the regionals.

“It’s my home, my hometown,” Farrow said. “I’m very happy and proud to go home.”

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The 38-year-old Farrow has spent most of his life on the West Coast. He spent two years at Eastern Michigan as a player, and one at Vanderbilt as an assistant coach, but the rest was in California. 

Farrow worked at UCLA under Cori Close and then at Cal and Southern Cal under Lindsay Gottlieb. When Dawn Staley expressed interest in hiring Farrow last offseason to replace Winston Gandy, convincing him to come east was the first challenge. 

“His name came up, and I reached out. We had a conversation. We went back and forth a little bit. I just needed him to get to campus,” Staley said. “He’s a West Coast guy. Part of me didn’t think we would get him because he’s such a West Coast guy. Then the other part is, if we got him to campus, if he could be around our staff, if he could work out one of our players, if our players could meet him and all those things happened, I think it just lined up.”

When Staley called Gottleib to express interest, Gottleib and her son were going through security at Disneyland.

“Literally, my son went in right before me, and he’s looking at my phone. He goes, mommy, Dawn Staley’s calling you. I’m like, no, she’s not. He goes, no, mom, Dawn Staley is calling you. Oh, she sure is. She’s at the Final Four. So it went to voicemail,” Gottlieb said. “(She said) hey, I don’t know if you know, but I have a coaching opening, I want to talk to you about Wendale.”

Farrow wasn’t the only person excited when the bracket was released. Gottlieb’s son Jordan immediately spotted that Southern Cal was headed to Columbia.

“Delly is like my family. He’s Uncle Delly to my kids, so obviously that relationship always goes beyond basketball. He’s just a great human, and proud of what he’s doing in his career and as a person,” Gottlieb said. “You know, I wasn’t shocked to be necessarily sent here, but definitely when it popped up, that resonated for my son, who said, oh, you’re going to South Carolina, is that Uncle Del? Obviously, that’s what comes up first.”

“That’s my nephew,” Farrow said. “I’ve been with Lindsay for a large portion of my career. That’s family to me, that’s like a big sister. I’m indebted to her for so much, and Reesie (sp?) and Jordan are my niece and nephew. Her husband, Patrick, is a great man, they’re definitely family.”

Farrow has a way of making everyone feel like family, and that is one of his biggest skills as an assistant coach. He is able to build relationships with recruits, like future Gamecocks Kaeli Wynn and Jerzy Robinson, and current players. 

Gottlieb says that Farrow’s background makes him relatable. Farrow grew up in Section 8 housing, where a family of five or six people would share two bedrooms. He had to go to junior college out of high school, and played his way into a scholarship at Eastern Michigan, where he eventually earned a master’s degree. 

“He’s a terrific human, first and foremost, and I think just has all the right priorities in life,” she said. “Came from a place where he had to struggle to get exactly where he is and always thinks about giving back. Had an incredible mother that was really influential in what he’s done, and I think he has a servant’s heart, does a ton of community service when nobody’s looking. And I think he’s just poured his life into women’s basketball, studies the Xs and Os and finds creative ways to relate with players, and he’s just a great guy.”

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Farrow has worked his way up the coaching ranks in the same manner. He started as a video coordinator at UCLA, doing whatever was needed. He was an assistant for one season at Vanderbilt under Melanie Balcomb, who was fired at the end of that season (Balcomb spent the ensuing season as an offensive analyst at South Carolina).

Then, Farrow linked up with Gottlieb first at Cal, where he stayed under Charmin Smith when Gottlieb coached in the NBA, and then at Southern Cal.

“A lot of young people kind of relate to the struggle, you know, relate to the grind,” Farrow said.”I just want to be a reflection on my community and make our people proud.”

Farrow describes his role as a coach as a “vehicle.” At 6-7, Farrow can practice with bigs and match their height, and demonstrate things that other assistants may not be able to do. His personality and easy-going attitude can sometimes soften the bloc of harsher coaching.

“You’re essentially a vehicle, right? You want to take the messaging from your head coach to the players, and get those players across that bridge to success,” he said. “So when you have young people who want to be successful, you’ve got to hold them accountable, give them a level of discipline and a level of confidence. All of our young people have that, and I think it’s on us as assistant coaches to reflect what Coach has and make sure that we can, you know, bring them to where they want to go.”

And he’s getting used to the Eastern time zone. Even if it still feels a little weird.

“I’m a Cali dude, a high sock-wearing, a taco, burrito, avocado type of man,” Farrow said. “So I’m super happy to go home. I haven’t been home in a while, so just to get the California sun, the palm trees, get my favorite eats. It’s going to be really, really cool. But I’m thankful being in the South, you know, there’s a level of culture here that has really shaped me and my adulthood, so I’m thankful for both experiences.”

Asked Farrow where to eat while in Sacramento, and he said there are plenty of choices. But he also knows his favorite order by heart.

“In my neighborhood, we go to Adalbertos,” he said. “It’s a taco spot, we get a 24 burrito with sour cream and a pink lemonade.”