god Shammgod (born April 29, 1976, and formerly known as Shammgod Wells) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He is currently a player development coach with the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

. He played in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

with the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

during 1997–98 after being drafted by them in the second round (17th pick) of the 1997 NBA draft. He played in the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

for several teams, including the

Zhejiang Cyclones The Zhejiang Golden Bulls, or Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Rent are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Yiwu in Zhejiang, China. It competes in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), in the Southern Division. Its corporate sponsor is Z ...

. and Shanxi Yujun. He also played professionally in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Despite a brief NBA career, he is well-remembered as the progenitor and namesake of a widely used

crossover dribble A crossover dribble is a basketball manoeuvre in which a player dribbling the ball switches the ball rapidly from one hand to the other, to make a change in direction. In a typical example the player heads up-court, dribbling the ball in (say) the ...

, the "Shammgod."

Playing career

High school

When he was known as Shammgod Wells, he played high school basketball at

La Salle Academy } La Salle Academy is an American private, Catholic all-boys' high school in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. The school is run by the Eastern North American District of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. His teammates at La Salle Academy included future NBA player

Metta World Peace Metta Sandiford-Artest (born Ronald William Artest Jr.; November 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He was known as Ron Artest before legally changing his name to Metta World Peace in 2011 and later to Metta Sandifor ...

(then known as Ron Artest) and former Providence College center Karim Shabazz. He was selected to the 1995

McDonald's All-American Team The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

and recorded nine points in the All-American game. He also played with

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

during a summer on an AAU team.

College

God played for two seasons at

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

, where he averaged 10.3 PPG for his college career. He was selected to the Big East All-Rookie Team as a freshman in 1996 after setting the Big East freshman assist record, which has since been broken. As a sophomore, Shammgod teamed with future NBA player

Austin Croshere Austin Nathan Croshere (born May 1, 1975) is a retired American professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs throughout his 12-year career in the N ...

in leading the Friars to the 1997 Elite Eight, where they lost to eventual NCAA champion Arizona in overtime. Shammgod registered 23 points and five assists while matching up against future NBA player

Mike Bibby Michael Bibby (born May 13, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. He played professionally for 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He last served as the head coach for Hillcrest Prep Academy in Phoenix, ...

in the loss.

Professional career

Shammgod appeared in 20 games for the

in 1997–98. Shammgod later played in the

. Most of his professional playing career was spent outside of the U.S.

Coaching career

Shammgod reenrolled at Providence in 2012 to complete his undergraduate studies and earned a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Leadership Development in May 2015. He served as an undergraduate student assistant on

Ed Cooley Ed Cooley (born September 10, 1969) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the Providence College Friars men's basketball team. Cooley held the same position at Fairfield University from 2006 to 2011. He received ...

's staff and has been credited with playing a role in the development of

Bryce Cotton Bryce Jiron Cotton (born August 11, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Providence Friars, where he was a two-time first-team Al ...

and

Kris Dunn Kristofer Michael Dunn (born March 18, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League. He played four seasons of college basketball for the Providence Friars before being drafted with the fifth ...

Name

Shammgod's birth name is God Shammgod. Often teased for his highly unusual name during childhood, he went by Shammgod Wells (using his mother's maiden name) throughout high school. When he enrolled at Providence, he was informed he would have to register under his legal name. Because it would have cost $600 to change his legal name to Shammgod Wells, Shammgod stopped using the alias.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shammgod, God 1976 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Croatia American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Saudi Arabia American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Czarni Słupsk players KK Cedevita players La Crosse Bobcats players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Providence Friars men's basketball players Washington Bullets draft picks Washington Wizards players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople