Staff Directory

Sami Durante-Money

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
Recruiting Email:
unc-gymnastics@unc.edu

The 2026-27 season will mark the fourth year for Sami Money as an assistant coach with Carolina Gymnastics after being hired in July 2023. In this role, she assumes all director of operations responsibilities as well as assists on all four events.

Money was the primary beam coach during her first season in Chapel Hill in 2024. She coached freshman Jessica Naranjo to ACC All-Championship Team honors on beam at the conference meet, the first ACC Championship in 40 years. Under her direction, UNC's beam squad put together a season-high 49.225 in the regular season finale on the road at LSU, her alma mater.

In her second season as a Tar Heel, Money helped lead Carolina to a top three finish in their second season in the ACC (2025). The Tar Heels wrapped up a historically great season, finishing ranked in the top 25 for the just the fourth time in program history.

After the regular season, Lali Dekanoidze was named ACC Specialist of the Year and JoJo Valahovic earned ACC Newcomer of the Year honors.

The 2026 season marked the team's third season in the ACC. Carolina continued to gain national recognition as they ranked in the top 25 each week of the season for the first time since 2004. The team spent six weeks in the top 15 and posted their highest end of season ranking since 2006 (no. 20).

The Tar Heels had three regular season All-ACC gymnasts and two All-ACC Championship Team members.

For the second consecutive season, the program had an individual qualify for the NCAA National Championships as an individual. Gwen Fink represented the Tar Heels at the 2026 NCAA Championships on vault. The senior secured her spot at nationals after recording a career high 9.900 on the event at regionals.

The beam lineup ranked in the top 25 each week of the 2026 season and ended with an NQS of 49.018 on the event. Under her guidance, the Tar Heels had one regular season All-ACC gymnast and one All-ACC Championships gymnast on the event. Most notably, the team posted their highest beam score since 2001 in the win over no. 13 Minnesota (49.425).

Then known as Sami Durante, she was a standout gymnast at LSU from 2018-22 where she specialized in bars, beam and vault. She served as LSU’s anchor on bars for three straight years and earned WCGA Regular Season All-America recognition on bars in both 2021 and 2022.

She was part of an NCAA Championship squad each year during her time in Baton Rouge, finishing as high as second in the team final as a sophomore. She was also a member of two Southeastern Conference championship teams and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team as a rookie. Durante was twice nominated for the prestigious AAI Award, given to the top gymnast in the nation.

At the conclusion of her competitive career, Durante stayed on staff with LSU as a graduate assistant during the 2022-23 season where she aided the staff with day-to-day operations of the program. The Tigers experienced a successful season with her on staff, winning their NCAA semifinal and advancing to the team final for the ninth time in school history.

A native of Athens, Georgia, Durante competed for Georgia Elite Gymnastics and was a three-time Junior Olympic Nationals qualifier prior to donning the purple and gold.

A two-time graduate of LSU, Durante earned her bachelor’s degree in sport administration with a double minor in business and leadership and human resource development in May 2021. She earned her master’s in sport management in May 2023.

Excelling in the classroom just like on the mats, Durante was a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, LSU President’s Honor Roll recipient and earned WCGA Academic All-America honors. She was also the SEC Community Service Award winner.

She married Blake Money in December 2024. The two met at LSU where Money was a member of the baseball team which won the national championship in 2023.