Shumate first McNeese basketball player to enter transfer portal since Wade announcement
Published 12:08 pm Monday, March 20, 2023
- McNeese State's Christian Shumate beats Nicholls State's Edoardo Del Cadia for a rebound during a Southland Conference men's basketball tournament game on Monday, March 6, at the Legacy Center. (Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
Christian Shumate became the first McNeese State basketball player to enter the transfer portal since Will Wade has been named the head coach.
Not surprisingly Shumate made it official Monday morning when he put his name in the portal after a solid sophomore season with the Cowboys.
Under the new portal rules Shumate will have to sit out a season before being eligible since he is a second-time transfer. Shumate will likely request a coaching change waiver from the NCAA in hopes of not missing next season.
After McNeese fired John Aiken earlier this month Shumate said he was undecided on his future.
“I will wait to see what happens,” said Shumate at the time.
The 6-7 forward from Chicago came to McNeese after one season at Tulsa. In his second year with the Cowboys, he averaged 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds while earning second-team all-Southland Conference honors.
He was even better during the SLC tournament when he earned all-tourney honors by averaging 26.7 points and 13.7 rebounds over McNeese’s three games.
His 41 total rebounds broke the tournament record of Ronnie Morgan’s of North Texas set in 1990 by six. Shumate started 41 of 67 games while at McNeese.
He is not likely to be the last to enter the portal.
So far Wade has received commitments from a trio of guards in Mike Saunders from Utah, Zach Harvey from UC Santa Barbara, and Javohn Garcia from College of the Sequoias, a junior college in California.
The three are expected to sign in April on the next official signing date. Wade is likely to sign at least four others as he tries to rebuild McNeese from an 11-23 season.
“We have a lot of work to do,” said Wade. “We look forward to getting to it.”
Since the naming of Wade McNeese has seen a boom in ticket sales and are for the first time including court-side seating with 30 premium seats on the floor now available.
In the first 48 hours after Wade took over McNeese officials say they picked up $116 in new basketball revenue.
