MARIETTA, Ga. – Phillip Shumpert has joined the Southern Polytechnic State University Department of Athletics as an assistant men's basketball coach. As head coach Jeffrey Pourchier's top aide, Shumpert assists in all aspects of the Southern Polytechnic men's basketball program, serving as the recruiting coordinator and focusing on scouting opponents and working with the post players.

"When the Southern Poly opening came about, I thought it was a great situation for me and my family," Shumpert said. "It's a beautiful campus, close to Atlanta and with a great basketball tradition, I thought it could be a real good fit for what I was trying to do, which is leave the junior college level and get back on the four-year level. I'm excited to be here and excited about what the future holds with Southern Poly basketball."

Shumpert spent the past four seasons as the head coach at Lawson State Community College in Birmingham, Ala., a National Junior College Athletic Association Division I program. At Lawson State, he posted an overall record of 82-34 for a .707 winning percentage. In the 2010-11 campaign, Shumpert guided the Cougars to a 26-6 overall mark, winning the Alabama Community College Conference North Division championship at 13-1. In 2011, Shumpert was selected as the NJCAA Region 22 Coach of the Year and as the recipient of the Birmingham Tip-Off Club's Glen Clem Award as the state's top junior college coach. Over the last four years, 25 of Shumpert's former players moved on to play at four-year institutions, including 15 at the NCAA Division I level.

"We are thrilled that Phillip Shumpert has joined our program," Pourchier said. "He is a proven recruiter and a good coach. Coach Shumpert comes very highly regarded from a lot of people around the south. He is very well connected in the state of Georgia and in the junior college world."

Other coaching stops for Shumpert include serving as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at NCAA Division II University of West Alabama in Livingston (2008-09), along with being an assistant coach at Lawson State (2007-08) and with the Anderson (S.C.) Heat of the World Basketball Association (2006). He was a junior varsity and varsity assistant coach at Columbia High School in Decatur, Ga., for the 2005-06 season. From 2001-05, he served as a camp coordinator for European Pro Showcase events around metropolitan Atlanta. Shumpert has also coached AAU squads and another travel team in metro Atlanta.

Originally from Fulton, Miss., Shumpert earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Ala., in 2006. He was a student-athlete at Itawamba Agricultural High School and Itawamba Community College in Fulton; Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Ala.; and NCAA Division II Albany (Ga.) State University.

Shumpert resides in Loganville, Ga., with his wife, Tatanisha, and their 9-year-old daughter, Jordan.