Former Suns forward, assistant coach John Shumate dead at 72
Former Suns first-round draft pick John Shumate, who also played a role as a scout and assistant for the team, died Monday at the age of 72.
Former Notre Dame great John Shumate talks to the crowd during his Ring of Honor Induction during a mens college basketball game between the Marquette Golden Eagles and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on December 11, 2022, at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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 Gar 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.
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Comments
4 Comments
Soo, soo many years ago I recall watching on ESPN Classics a replay of the January 19th, 1974 basketball game between UCLA vs Notre Dame. UCLA was riding an 88 game winning streak and the Irish would go on to hit a last minute shot to beat UCLA 71-70 ending that streak. It was the only lead they had, the entire game. While Shumate didn't make that shot to beat the Bruins (Dwight Clay did), I remember Shumate being an absolute stud that game with 24 & 11 against Bill Walton's Bruins, coached by John Wooden. UCLA had like 5 shots/tips at the end to win, but could not get any of them to go down.
I guess that's just my long winded way of saying 'I remember you John', and praising the big man. RIP John Shumate.
Great story, thanks for taking the time to share it.
I remember Phoenix drafting him and thinking the Suns finally had a large PF to pair with Alvan Adams. I was actually shocked and upset when they traded Shumate to Buffalo for Garfield Heard becasue Head was four inches shorter.