Shumate named assistant coach of Phoenix Suns

Gentry adds Shumate to Suns staff

PHOENIX — John Shumate will join Alvin Gentry’s coaching staff with the Phoenix Suns.

The team announced on Monday that Shumate would be the Suns’ fourth assistant coach. He had been in the Suns scouting department for all but one of the last eight years.

Phoenix drafted Shumate out of Notre Dame as the fourth overall pick in 1974. He sat out a year with a blood clot, then made the NBA’s all-rookie team in 1975-76. Shumate played seven NBA seasons.

He has coached at the college and professional level, including a stint as Toronto Raptors assistant coach from 1995 to 1998.