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Eddie Shannon

Eddie Shannon

Eddie Shannon was named assistant coach on Lamont Paris’ first staff at South Carolina on Friday, April 8, 2022. He enters his second season on Paris’ Gamecock staff in 2023-24. He served on staff as an assistant under Paris at Chattanooga for three seasons (2019-22) prior to coming to Columbia.

In season one at South Carolina in 2022-23, the team had an overhauled roster with eight new players, including just 14.9 percent of the team’s scoring and 18.4 percent of the minutes played returning from the year prior. The Gamecocks defeated Clemson at home, 60-58, for the first time since Dec. 19, 2014. The conference slate was highlighted by road wins at Kentucky, at Ole Miss and at LSU. The Gamecocks wire-to-wire victory at Rupp Arena on Jan. 10 was the team’s first there since 2009 and just the program’s third all-time win in Lexington since joining the SEC (1992). Carolina nearly knocked off SEC Champion and No. 2/2 Alabama at home but fell in overtime, 78-76, thanks to a late bucket from SEC Player of the Year Brandon Miller.

Several players had their most productive seasons to date under the new staff in year one in Columbia. Sophomore Jacobi Wright averaged 7.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He had a career-best six games in double figures in SEC play. Josh Gray led the team in rebounding, averaging 6.3 per game and 7.9 rebounds per contest in league action. He had a career-best eight games with 10 or more rebounds, seven of which came in SEC action. Gray also had the best game of his career with 20 points and 14 rebounds vs. Arkansas. Johnson averaged 12.7 points (second on team) and 3.6 assists per contest (eighth in the SEC). He led the team with 70 makes from behind the arc and was one of just eight players in the SEC to make 70 or more 3s.

The staff made early in-roads recruiting over the summer in 2022 with local product Gregory “GG” Jackson II reclassifying and enrolling early. The consensus top player in the 2023 class, Jackson was the highest rated signee in program history (recruit rankings started in early 2000s) and joined PJ Dozier (2015-17) as the only five-star Gamecock freshmen. Jackson would go on to earn All-SEC Freshman honors while leading the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game. He had 11 20-point games, the most by a Carolina freshman since joining the SEC in 1991-92. Jackson would go on to be selected 45th overall by the Memphis Grizzles in the 2023 NBA Draft. He became the first NBA Draft pick for the program since All-American Sindarius Thornwell in 2017.

A native of Riviera Beach, Fla., Shannon was a four-year starter at the University of Florida (1995-99) helping usher in the Billy Donovan era in Gainesville. He scored 1,168 career points and left as the career leader in steals (204), only player in school history with 200+ steals and he was also second in assists (493). Shannon was inducted into the SEC Legends program in 2015, an annual honor awarded at the conference tournament to program greats across the league’s 14 institutions.

“As a former standout guard in the SEC, Eddie Shannon is extremely familiar with this league and what it takes to be successful,” said Paris. “He does a tremendous job with our perimeter players and is very familiar with our geographic footprint from a recruiting standpoint.”

After college, Shannon went on to play professionally overseas for 10 seasons with stops in Italy, France, Russia, Sweden, Croatia, Latvia, Greece, Australia, and Cyprus. He earned Russian and Swedish League Guard of the Year and was named finals MVP after leading the league in scoring in 2002.

After a successful playing career, Shannon got into coaching and first served as an assistant at NCAA Division II Palm Beach Atlantic from 2012-15. He then moved on to Chattanooga and worked as director of basketball operations for one season (2015-16) before joining the staff as an assistant the following year (2016-17). He helped lead the Mocs to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 after winning the SoCon regular season and tournament titles. The team won a school record 29 games in 2015-16.

Shannon then went on to serve as an assistant at Canisius for two seasons (2017-19). In his first season with the Golden Griffins, he helped lead the team to a regular season conference title. He then returned to Chattanooga as an assistant under Paris the last three years. In seven seasons as an NCAA Division I assistant, Shannon has been a part of 149 wins (21.3 per year), three conference titles, two tournament titles, and a pair of NCAA tournaments.

“I’m honored and humbled to join Gamecock Nation,” said Shannon. “I’m so grateful to coach Paris for giving me this opportunity. I am here to work diligently and make the South Carolina community proud. Go Gamecocks!”

He and his wife Nicole, married in 2017, have five kids: Jaden, Jamila, Melik, Justin, and Malachi.