| | by Chris Maynard ([email protected]) For people close to the game of college and even professional basketball, that is, working within the sport, the name God Shammgod is hardly an ode to some forgotten player with |
an unforgettable name whose glory occurred for a few weeks during a March long gone.
- Just this past summer, Shammgod was hired by the Dallas Mavericks as a player development coach.
- Back in the day, Shammgod taught his AAU high school teammate Kobe Bryant the crossover dribble, something that the Lakers star acknowledged during the 1998 NBA All-Star game.
- In recent years, Shammgod has trained dynamic, diminutive scorers like my personal favorite Ben Gordon and current Boston Celtics All-Star Isaiah Thomas.
For New York City playground players, the name God Shammgod is holy ground, a starting point for a conversation about one of the greatest point guards to come out of the city.
- Playing under the name Shammgod Wells in high school, Shammgod teamed with Ron Artest at LaSalle Academy in Manhattan and was a McDonald's All-American in 1995.
- Just a few years ago, Kenny Smith, another product of New York City, called Shammgod the greatest dribbler that he had ever seen in the NBA.
- Shammgod is so revered by playground players that he has his own dribble named after him, the "Shammgod."
For fans of Providence University basketball, the name God Shammgod is not only a testament to the program's deepest tournament run in 20 years but an example of the man's recent impact on the Friars.
- With teammates Austin Croshere, Jamel Thomas, Derrick Brown and Ruben Garces, Shammgod piloted Providence on an unlikely run to the 1997 Elite Eight under head coach Pete Gillen. In fact, Shammgod nearly shot the Friars into the Final Four with a last-second shot that the God above must have determined not to be following a crazy Providence rally during an overtime loss to eventual national champion Arizona.
- As a special assistant to Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley, Shammgod has helped the program produce two quite impressive point guards in recent years, the tough-as-nails, heart-of-a-champion Bryce Cotton, and Russell Westbrook clone, Kris Dunn, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
For an inexperienced, dumb, 14-year-old kid back in 1997, the name God Shammgod is a flash-in-the-pan memory of a player who burst onto the scene during the 1997 NCAA Tournament, due to his game and also his name, but was gone as soon as he came.
Unfortunately, my memories of Shammgod are limited to the 1997 NCAA Tournament, including:
Unfortunately, my memories of Shammgod are limited to the 1997 NCAA Tournament, including:
- A first-round drubbing of No. 7 Marquette, including a 75-footer by Croshere at the halftime buzzer.
- A thorough dismantling of Duke in the second round, with Brown scoring a game-high 33 points and Shammgod putting an exclamation point on the victory with this emphatic slam.
- A tight Sweet Sixteen game against Cinderella UT-Chattanooga, during which Thomas hit some big threes late and Shammgod dished out 7 assists to just 1 turnover in 36 minutes on the floor.
- A classic against Arizona, during which the ball was in God's hands at the end of the game, with Shammgod electing to pull up for a jumper amidst the excitement of a furious Providence rally rather than driving to the basket, his specialty. Shammgod missed that shot, with that unlikely decision from God perhaps proof positive that Arizona was a team of destiny during the 1997 NCAA Tournament.
Shammgod would declare pro after the 1996-1997 season, and even be part of TBS Ernie Johnson's opening joke leading into the 1997 NBA Draft, saying that God (Shammgod) and a Priest (Lauderdale) could be drafted on the same night.
While Shammgod would be drafted in the second round by the Washington Bullets, his NBA career would last just 20 games, causing him to play around the world.
Like that, Shammgod was mostly gone from my memory, except during discussions about the tournament.
While reviewing the Arizona and Providence game this week (see my "Sensational Shammgod" section), I left with a deeper appreciation of not only Shammgod's immense talent but his impact on the game of basketball.
Going against three future pros, Miles Simon, Mike Bibby and Michael Dickerson, Shammgod got wherever he wanted to go on the court during this Elite Eight clash.
Tied with Thomas for the team lead with 23 points at the end of this game, Shammgod was the engine that made the Friars go on this night, taking the ball to the rim, drawing the defense and setting up his teammates.
While the box score only shows 5 assists, Shammgod was involved in so many more plays, including multiple occurrences of Providence players getting fouled at the rim after God had sucked in the defense and dished a dime.
The Arizona players clearly respected Shammgod's driving and dribbling ability, sagging off rather than getting crossed. Known for his handles and not his shooting, Shammgod did hit a couple of threes in the game.
In short, Shammgod was a man in control of the game. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, at least with the ball in his hand. While he had flash, he didn't have to be flashy. His dribbling had purpose and always led to some bigger goal.
In a tournament during which Bibby and Simon would not be solved, and Dickerson would guard Vince Carter and Ron Mercer in the Final Four, all three Arizona players had their hands full guarding Shammgod in the Elite Eight.
On two separate instances, late in the first and second halves, Shammgod sparked crazy runs by Providence that, respectively, put the Friars up one and forced overtime.
While Bibby would have 17 quiet points and eventually become the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, Shammgod was the better point guard on the floor this game.
How good was Shammgod during his two years at Providence?
In that time, he broke a Providence assist record set by Lenny Wilkins and game-high steals record set by Eric Murdock, with 10 steals earlier in the 1996-1997 season.
In truth, Shammgod was one of those rare players who made his teammates better, and he did not have to do it by scoring.
Physically, he was a bulldog, yet he was still a blur, a shooting star across the sky that was soon out of sight, at least in college basketball.
While playing for years around the globe, Shammgod has clearly established himself as a person who gave back to his community, as seen in the feature below.
It's cool to see that while Shammgod touched my life and others' lives during the 1997 NCAA Tournament, he has continued to do so in more important ways, working as a mentor to youth, while remaining around the game he was born to play.
While Shammgod's "Fifteen Minutes of Fame" may have superfiically occurred to many, including me, during the 1997 NCAA Tourment, he is clearly a man whose impact has gone way beyond four games in March.
Writing as a teacher, and not just a college basketballfan, I respect that more than anything Shammgod did on the basketball court.
Like that, Shammgod was mostly gone from my memory, except during discussions about the tournament.
While reviewing the Arizona and Providence game this week (see my "Sensational Shammgod" section), I left with a deeper appreciation of not only Shammgod's immense talent but his impact on the game of basketball.
Going against three future pros, Miles Simon, Mike Bibby and Michael Dickerson, Shammgod got wherever he wanted to go on the court during this Elite Eight clash.
Tied with Thomas for the team lead with 23 points at the end of this game, Shammgod was the engine that made the Friars go on this night, taking the ball to the rim, drawing the defense and setting up his teammates.
While the box score only shows 5 assists, Shammgod was involved in so many more plays, including multiple occurrences of Providence players getting fouled at the rim after God had sucked in the defense and dished a dime.
The Arizona players clearly respected Shammgod's driving and dribbling ability, sagging off rather than getting crossed. Known for his handles and not his shooting, Shammgod did hit a couple of threes in the game.
In short, Shammgod was a man in control of the game. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, at least with the ball in his hand. While he had flash, he didn't have to be flashy. His dribbling had purpose and always led to some bigger goal.
In a tournament during which Bibby and Simon would not be solved, and Dickerson would guard Vince Carter and Ron Mercer in the Final Four, all three Arizona players had their hands full guarding Shammgod in the Elite Eight.
On two separate instances, late in the first and second halves, Shammgod sparked crazy runs by Providence that, respectively, put the Friars up one and forced overtime.
While Bibby would have 17 quiet points and eventually become the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, Shammgod was the better point guard on the floor this game.
How good was Shammgod during his two years at Providence?
In that time, he broke a Providence assist record set by Lenny Wilkins and game-high steals record set by Eric Murdock, with 10 steals earlier in the 1996-1997 season.
In truth, Shammgod was one of those rare players who made his teammates better, and he did not have to do it by scoring.
Physically, he was a bulldog, yet he was still a blur, a shooting star across the sky that was soon out of sight, at least in college basketball.
While playing for years around the globe, Shammgod has clearly established himself as a person who gave back to his community, as seen in the feature below.
It's cool to see that while Shammgod touched my life and others' lives during the 1997 NCAA Tournament, he has continued to do so in more important ways, working as a mentor to youth, while remaining around the game he was born to play.
While Shammgod's "Fifteen Minutes of Fame" may have superfiically occurred to many, including me, during the 1997 NCAA Tourment, he is clearly a man whose impact has gone way beyond four games in March.
Writing as a teacher, and not just a college basketballfan, I respect that more than anything Shammgod did on the basketball court.
RSS Feed