John Shumate has passed away. He was the driving force behind Notre Dame’s 1974 upset of UCLA, which ended the Bruins’ historic 88-game winning streak. His age was 72.
Shumate passed away on Monday, according to Notre Dame.
John was selected to the first team of the Associated Press All-America in 1974 after playing for Notre Dame from 1971 to 1974. Shumate was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the fourth overall pick in the 1974 NBA Draft. He played in the NBA until 1981 before starting a long career as a collegiate and professional coach.
When Notre Dame inducted Shumate into its ring of honor and placed his No. 34 jersey in the Purcell Pavilion rafters in 2022, he said, “Good things can happen for you and to you when you pay the price and do things the right way and you take care of yourself — your body, your mind — and stay true to yourself.” “Thank you for that.”
John Shumate Performance
In a duel with Bill Walton, he scored 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as Notre Dame defeated UCLA 71-70 on January 19, 1974, snapping the Division I men’s basketball team’s longest winning streak. On the day of the game, Shumate claimed that at around 4 or 5 a.m., he called his father, a Pentecostal minister, to voice his worries about the assignment he was
Thus, Shumate recalled, “my dad prayed for me over the phone.” “And you know what? I thought I could go out and take on the world after he was done.
Following a game-winning rebound in the last seconds, Shumate flung the ball into the air, sparking a celebration.
In 2022, Shumate talked about that game and stated, “I’m still very proud of it, our guys and our team, the fact we could go out and pull off something that was so vital and important for, I think, college basketball.” because everyone was being beaten by the Bruins. They were too strong for anyone to match. They were excellent. We were the best team that day.
Despite battling a variety of health concerns during his time at Notre Dame, Shumate averaged 22.6 points and 11.6 rebounds. Shumate lost forty-five pounds and was admitted to intensive care during his sophomore year due to a blood clot in his calf and a virus infection surrounding his heart.
In the 1974 NCAA Tournament, he averaged 28.7 points over three games to end up his collegiate career.
Shumate played for the Suns, Buffalo Braves, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA, averaging 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. In 1975–76, he was selected to the NBA All-Rookie team.
He became a coach and led SMU to a 78-118 record from 1988 and 1995. The 1992–93 SMU squad finished 20–8 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
In 2003, Shumate was the coach of the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. He served as the Suns’ assistant coach from 2009 to 2010 and as Notre Dame’s assistant coach from 1981 to 1982 and 1986 to 1988.