Georgia Southern men’s basketball coach Brian Burg announced today that he has named Shawn Forrest, Chris Shumate and Tim MacAllister assistant coaches.
“I am really excited about the staff we have put together,” said Burg. “These guys are proven winners with a non-ego mentality. They embody the blue-collar mentality that we embrace here at Georgia Southern.”
Forrest is a 22-year coaching veteran, a tenure which includes stops at current Sun Belt schools Louisiana, Arkansas State and Troy and former members Western Kentucky and North Texas. Most recently, Forrest spent three seasons (2016-19) at SMU, where he helped the Mustangs to a 30-5 record in 2016-17. SMU went 18-0 at home that season, won The American regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. SMU was ranked in the Associated Press Top-25 for the last six weeks of the season and finished 11th in the poll. Forrest was also instrumental in the development of three NBA draft picks during his tenure at SMU, Semi Ojeleye, Sterling Brown and Shake Milton.
Forrest spent three seasons at Western Kentucky (2013-16), helping the Hilltoppers to consecutive 20-win seasons, and mentored NBA draft picks Elfrid Payton and Shawn Long at Louisiana in 2012-13. He helped North Texas to four consecutive 20-plus win seasons (2008-12) and coached NBA Draft selection Tony Mitchell. The Mean Green won the 2010 Sun Belt Tournament, earning the league’s bid to the NCAA Tournament. Forrest began his career as a graduate assistant at Troy (1998-2001) and spent six seasons at Arkansas State (2002-08), where he played a part in recruiting multiple top-100 classes.
Forrest is the all-time leading NCAA Division I scorer at Arkansas Pine Bluff University.
“Shawn Forrest is a proven coach and relentless recruiter,” said Burg. “Throughout his career, he has won championships and helped develop student-athletes. The knowledge he has acquired over a 20-year Division I career is invaluable.”
Shumate is a 12-year coaching veteran having been on staffs at University of Cincinnati, Southern Miss, University of Tennessee, Western Kentucky University and Northern Kentucky University. 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.
Most recently, 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. Shumate had a very successful playing career at Murray State from 1999-2004 followed by two seasons professionally in the NBA D-League.
“Chris Shumate is a tremendous basketball coach who has competed and won championships throughout his entire career,” said Burg. “He is well respected in the coaching profession, and he has a tireless work ethic. I am thrilled to add someone of Chris’ caliber to our program.”
MacAllister comes to Statesboro from Texas Tech, where he served as the program’s Chief of Staff and along with Burg, helped lead the Red Raiders to the 2019 NCAA National Championship final and to the Big 12 Conference regular-season championship. MacAllister was named to the NABC’s 2019 Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team, a group selected as 30 of the most outstanding men’s college basketball coaches under the age of 30.
MacAllister has appeared in five NCAA Tournaments during his career, worked with four All-Americans and seen four players selected in the NBA Draft — Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan in 2013, Creighton’s Justin Patton in 2017, Khyri Thomas in 2018 and Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver in 2019. He spent three seasons at Creighton, where he helped the Bluejays to an NIT in 2016, followed by consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017 and 2018.
MacAllister also served as a Security Forces Staff Sergeant in the US Air National Guard from 2007-2013. While deployed at the Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, he was the head coach of the base’s first basketball team (2009-10), which played a number of contests against teams throughout that country.
He served as a student assistant at Murray State (2010-13) and spent a season at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., where he worked as an assistant to Jason Zimmerman. The Eagles won at No. 1 Wisconsin-Stevens Point to reach the Division III Elite Eight before falling to eventual national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater. While at Emory, he worked with a pair of All-American post players.
“Tim MacAllister is one of the most detailed and organized individuals I have worked with in my coaching career,” said Burg. “He has the winning intangibles that embody Georgia Southern basketball, and success has followed him throughout his coaching career.”
