Chris Shumate - Men's Basketball Coach

Chris Shumate

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
shumatec@uab.edu

Shumate enters his second season at UAB in 2025-26.

UAB men's basketball head coach Andy Kennedy announced the hiring of Georgia Southern assistant coach Chris Shumate on Friday, May 3, 2024.

Shumate helped guide the Blazer to a 23-14 record and an NIT quarterfinals appearance. In his first year at UAB, he helped develop Yaxel Lendeborg who was named AAC Defensive Player of the Year / AAC First Team All-Conference. UAB also made it to the AAC conference championship game in Shumate's first year with the Blazers.

Shumate joins the Blazers' staff after five seasons at Georgia Southern. He had previously served as an assistant at Cincinnati, Southern Miss, Tennessee, Western Kentucky and Northern Kentucky.

"Excited to have Chris join our staff." Kennedy said, "He was an outstanding player at Murray State, so he has been on both sides of the coaching spectrum. Chris brings a veteran perspective having been in this space for many years."

Prior to Shumate's stint at Georgia Southern, he served as an assistant at Northern Kentucky for three seasons from 2016-19. The Norse reached the postseason in each of the three seasons while capturing two conference tournament titles and one regular season crown. NKU appeared in the NCAA Tournament twice and the NIT once during those three years.

The Louisville, Kentucky native spent one season at Southern Miss where he helped the Golden Eagles reach the NIT Quarterfinals. Following his sole season in Hattiesburg, he spent one season at Tennessee.

As a player, Shumate scored 1,207 points during his career at Murray State, leading the Racers to an Ohio Valley Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament appearance during his senior season. As the team captain, he shot over 40 percent from three throughout his career, including a .448 mark from beyond the arc in his final season. He earned All-OVC honors twice.

He spent two years in the NBA D-League before joining his former college coach Mick Cronin's staff at Cincinnati to begin his coaching career.

"I'm very excited to join Coach Kennedy's staff and the UAB basketball program." Shumate said, "It's an honor to work with an elite coach at a championship program. Being a part of the winning tradition that exists at UAB is an incredible opportunity, and I look forward to working with Coach Kennedy and the rest of the staff to continue winning championships."