John Shumate obit

Former Suns forward, assistant coach John Shumate dead at 72

 

He was not on the list.

Former Phoenix Suns first-round draft pick John Shumate, who also served in the team’s front office and as Mercury head coach, died Monday morning at the age of 72, according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro and the South Bend Tribune’s Tom Noie.

Shumate was drafted by Phoenix with the fourth overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft. He did not appear during the 1974-75 season due to a blood clot found in his lung. Shumate eventually made it on the court the following season but only played in 43 games for Phoenix before being dealt to the Buffalo Braves midseason for Garfield Heard and draft capital.

Shumate also spent time with the Detroit Pistons (1977-79), Houston Rockets (1979-80), San Antonio Spurs (1980) and Seattle Supersonics (1981).

Shumate’s post-playing career included an assistant coach gig at Notre Dame after his NBA retirement in 1981. He got his first shot as a head coach at Grand Canyon where he went 57-34 from 1983-86 before a seven-year run at SMU from 1988-95. He finished 78-118 in his SMU tenure.

From there, Shumate served as assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors from 1995-98. He returned to Phoenix as a community relations representative in 1998, eventually moving into a college scouting role for the Suns in 2000.

Shumate then took over as the Mercury’s head coach in 2003. He coached Phoenix to an 8-26 mark before leaving that post to rejoin the Suns’ front office as a college scout.

Shumate got back into coaching during the 2009-10 season as a Suns assistant under then-head coach Alvin Gentry. He later served as a scout once more after his one season as a Suns assistant.

Shumate, the son of a minister, was born on April 6, 1952, in Greenville, South Carolina. Shumate grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and played high school basketball at Thomas Jefferson High School. He was a high school All-American in his senior year. He starred in the Sonny Hill League in Philadelphia.

Career history

As player:

1975–1976      Phoenix Suns

1976–1977      Buffalo Braves

1977–1979      Detroit Pistons

1979–1980      Houston Rockets

1980    San Antonio Spurs

1981    Seattle SuperSonics

As coach:

1983–1986      Grand Canyon Antelopes

1988–1995      SMU

1995–1998      Toronto Raptors (assistant)

2003    Phoenix Mercury

2009–2010      Phoenix Suns (assistant)

Career highlights and awards

As player:

NBA All-Rookie First Team (1976)

Consensus first-team All-American (1974)

As head coach:

 

SWC regular season champion (1993)