Chris Shumate is in his fifth season on the Georgia Southern coaching staff.
In 2023-24, Shumate guided the Eagles to an 8-10 record in Sun Belt play and a quarterfinal appearance in the Sun Belt Tournament for the third consecutive season. Under his tutelage, the Eagles set program records in three-pointers (309) and free-throw percentage (.732), finishing the season 27th in the NCAA in three-pointers per game. Also under his watch, guard Tyren Moore made the All-Sun Belt Second Team and led the Sun Belt in points per game during conference play.
Defense has been the Eagles' calling card during the first three campaigns. The Eagles held their opponent under 60 points in 24 contests and under 40 percent shooting in 34 games. Georgia Southern allowed 65.6 points a game in 2021-22, the eighth-best scoring defense in school history, and Eagle opponents shot 41 percent from the field, which ranked third in the Sun Belt and was the second-best field goal percentage defense in a season at Georgia Southern.
The Eagles ranked fourth in the Sun Belt in scoring defense, first in turnovers forced and third in steals in his first campaign. Georgia Southern returned just five lettermen (two scholarship) to the 2020-21 roster, which was tied for the fourth least in the country, and the Eagles' nine newcomers were tied for the fourth-most in the country.
The 2022-23 campaign saw Georgia Southern post a 12-4 record at home, their best record in Hanner Fieldhouse since the 2014-15 campaign. GS tallied single-digit turnovers in 12 contests and ranked fourth in the league in least turnovers (11.5/gm). Andrei Savrasov ranked ninth in the league in scoring and rebounding and fourth in field goal percentage en route to earning second-team All-Sun Belt honors.
Shumate is a 15-year coaching veteran having been on staffs at Cincinnati, Southern Miss, Tennessee, Western Kentucky and Northern Kentucky. In 2007, Shumate joined the staff at Cincinnati with his former college coach, Mick Cronin. From 2007-2013, he was a part of three NCAA Tournament teams and one Sweet 16. Shumate then went on to coach at Southern Miss in 2013-2014 and win the Conference USA regular-season championship and an NIT appearance. He then spent the next couple of seasons as an assistant coach at Tennessee and Western Kentucky. Â
Shumate was an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky from 2016-2019, the most successful three-year stretch in school history. While at Northern Kentucky, the Norse reached two NCAA Tournaments, one NIT and won two Horizon League regular-season championships. In the 2016-2017 season, Northern Kentucky became the first school in NCAA history to make the NCAA Tournament in their first season of tournament eligibility, winning 24 games that year. In the 2018-2019 season, Northern Kentucky won both the Horizon League regular-season championship as well as Horizon League Conference Tournament, capping off a successful 26-win campaign.
During Shumate’s playing and coaching career, he has been a part of seven NCAA Tournament teams, one Sweet 16 team and three NIT teams. He has been a part of conference championships in the OVC, Big East, Conference USA and Horizon League.Â
Shumate had a very successful playing career at Murray State from 1999-2004 followed by two seasons professionally in the NBA D-League. He earned two Ohio Valley all-conference selections, and his name litters the Racers’ record books, ranking in the top-25 in scoring (1,207, 24th), three-pointers (170, 8th), steals (125, T-10th), assists (252, 14th), blocks (37, 15th) and field goals made (459, T-20th).
Shumate graduated from MSU in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in business. He and his wife Meredith have three children – Addison, Chloe and Gates.
