McNeese’s Christian Shumate returning for junior season

LAKE CHARLES – Christian Shumate, who led McNeese in both scoring and rebounding last season and earned All-Southland Conference Second Team honors, will return to the Cowboys team for his junior season, he announced on Tuesday.

Last season, Shumate guided the Cowboys to the conference tournament semifinal round, becoming the first eight-seed to do so in tournament history, while setting a new tournament record with 41 rebounds in three games, breaking a 33-year-old mark.

“He’s Back” 😈#GeauxPokes pic.twitter.com/8TCLxfSEZk

— McNeese Men’s Basketball (@McNeeseMBB) April 25, 2023

“We are excited to have Christian back,” said first-year head coach Will Wade. “He has proven himself as an elite player in the Southland. I have really enjoyed getting to know Christian throughout this process and I believe the best is yet to come for him on the court.

“We cannot wait to get to work with him in the summer. I know Lake Charles and all of our fans are so excited to get a player of Christian’s caliber back to McNeese.”

In 2022-23, Shumate finished second in the conference with 9.7 rebounds per game and led the league while ranking 11th in the nation with 16 double-doubles. He also topped the conference and was seventh in the NCAA with 3.7 offensive rebounds per game while his 330 total rebounds on the season ranked as the 13th-most in the country.

The Chicago native scored double-figures 26 times on the season including 15-consecutive games to finish out the year. He netted 20 or more points eight times and clipped 30 or more twice, including a career-high 32 points against UIW on Feb. 18.

In three conference tournament games, he averaged 26.7 points and 13.7 rebounds and scored 30 points in a semifinal matchup against A&M-Corpus Christi.

Shumate will enter the 2023-24 season with 550 career rebounds, ranking 21st all-time in McNeese basketball history.