Quinnipiac Men’s Basketball has announced the hiring of Umar Shannon (’14) as the Bobcats’ newest assistant coach, as revealed on Wednesday, May 29 by Head Coach Tom Pecora.
The former Bobcat will join QU’s coaching staff ahead of the 2024-25 season after spending each of the last three years in the MAAC at Saint Peter’s University. Shannon played out his final season of collegiate eligibility for the Bobcats in 2013-14, averaging 14.3 PPG, 2.3 APG, and 2.0 RPG.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Umar Shannon back to Hamden as a member of our coaching staff,” Head Coach Tom Pecora said. “Umar brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our program. He has a history of success in the MAAC, and his experience as a student-athlete here at Quinnipiac will be key for us as we continue to compete for league titles.”
Shannon helped guide the Peacocks to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances during the past three seasons in the MAAC. Saint Peter’s won the 2022 MAAC Men’s Basketball Championship in Atlantic City under the guidance of Shannon, then defeated Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue en route to becoming the first No. 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the Elite Eight. Two years later the Peacocks captured the conference title once again, as Saint Peter’s secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning the 2024 MAAC title.
Prior to his three-year stint at SPU, Shannon served as an assistant coach at Saint Francis University from 2016-2021. He helped the program capture the NEC Regular Season Championship in 2019.
Shannon surpassed 1,000 career points as a collegiate player over five seasons. He spent his first four years at Saint Francis (PA), averaging 12.6 PPG and 2.3 APG. The 2010-11 All-NEC/All-NABC selection averaged 15.8 PPG during his sophomore season, then poured in 11.2 PPG as a senior in 2012-13.
The point guard then spent his final season at Quinnipiac, where he helped lead the Bobcats to a 20-12 overall record during the program’s first season in the MAAC. Shannon finished third on the team in scoring (14.3 PPG), surpassing 1,000 career points in a QU uniform. He also finished fourth in the MAAC in free throw percentage (83.2%) in Hamden as a graduate student.
Following his collegiate career, Shannon signed with KB Besa Peja of the Kosovo SuperLeague – the top league in that nation. He averaged 12.9 points per game while posting a team-best 5.4 assists per contest in 2014-15.
The Bobcats completed the record-breaking 2023-24 season with 24 total wins (new program record). Quinnipiac won its first-ever MAAC regular season title under first-year Head Coach Tom Pecora. QU also set a new program mark for total points in a single season (2,630) during the benchmark campaign.
The Bobcats’ 19-4 start over their first 23 games marked the program’s best start to a year since the 1965-66 campaign. Quinnipiac won 10 consecutive games from Jan. 5 – Feb. 8, the third-longest active streak in all of Division I basketball. The Bobcats finished the month of January with a 7-0 record, marking the first perfect month in the university’s Division I history.
