Christian Shumate is such a high riser that he landed a spot on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 plays nine different times this past season.
Dunking comes easy for Shumate.
The Chicago native threw down his first slam the summer heading into his seventh-grade year.
Now Shumate is hoping to soar even higher as he tries to make the leap from undrafted rookie to the NBA.
Shumate, a 6-foot-6 forward on the New Orleans Pelicans Summer League roster, gets his opportunity just three hours away from Lake Charles where he starred at McNeese State.
“It means the world to me,” Shumate said. “I’ve grown to call Louisiana home. When I found out that I’d be stationed here for the time being as far as Summer League, I was really excited. I’ve been through some of the lowest times of my life and some of the highest times of my life in Louisiana. So I’m kinda rooted here and it was kind of a full circle moment being able to come back here and try to make strides to stay. It's been a blessing. I’m very grateful for the opportunity."
One of those low points at McNeese came in the 2022-'23 season when the Cowboys finished 11-23. Shumate, whose career started at Tulsa, entered the transfer portal and contemplated what would have been his third school. McNeese hired Will Wade and Shumate stuck it out and became a key cog in the program turning things around and winning 58 games over the next two seasons.
There have been just six players from McNeese to ever play in an NBA game. Shumate would like nothing more than to become the seventh, joining a list that includes Pelicans’ executive director of basketball operations Joe Dumars. Shumate and Dumars are both on McNeese’s all-time scoring list. Dumars is first. Shumate is ninth. Shumate is third on the rebounding list and first in double doubles (40) . He averaged 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds this past season and helped McNeese to its first NCAA Tournament victory in school history. He was named the Southland Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Shumate is also the first player in McNeese State to hit the 1,000 mark in points, rebounds, blocked shots, assists and steals.
It's that ability to do a little bit of everything that he wants to put on display in Las Vegas. [The Pelicans play their Summer League opener](https://www.nola.com/tncms/asset/editorial/f9719557-cfa3-408d-9867-f41748c64b11/) Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I think I can bring versatility and energy,” Shumate said. “I’m an athletic guy. I have a really high motor. I’ve been working on my shot a lot so I can pretty much be a 3 and D guy. I can knock down some shots. I offensive rebound very well. But I think the highest things would be my motor and toughness.”
Shumate didn’t take long to show off his athleticism at practice this week, skying to catch a missed shot and slamming it home.
“He’s a real athlete,” said [Pelicans' Summer League coach Corey Brewer](https://www.nola.com/tncms/asset/editorial/57725874-28e6-4239-aa70-639afb4f99e8/). “ Some dudes are athletic, but he’s an athlete.”
Brewer and the Pelicans staff knew that already. It’s the other parts of Shumate's game that has really opened eye. Particularly Shumate's ability to score.
“In college, he wasn’t really known as a shooter,” Brewer said. “But the last three days he’s really shot the ball amazingly. And he’s athletic. Christian has been the surprise and has really helped himself.”
Shumate hasn’t surprised only his coaches. In a way, he’s even surprised himself.
“I’ve learned that I’m more versatile than I thought,” Shumate said. “I’ve always been not one-dimensional, but I tried to do what I was good at all the time. But there are more things that I’m good at on the floor that I try to go to more often. So I think that’s been the main thing. Trying to show my skill in a lot of different areas instead of just the main thing.”
That doesn’t mean the dunks they called ShuSlams in Lake Charles are going away. He’ll still likely create a poster or two in Vegas. But he's equally focused on what he can do below the rim and not just above it.
“He’s proven that he has guard skills and he can do a lot of different things,” Brewer said. “I think for guys like that, when you’re in college, you kinda get put in a box. Then you get out here and you’re able to do different things and you surprise you self. I think he has surprised himself and that confidence is going to help him.”