Arizona mourns the passing of basketball pillar John Shumate

Arizona lost one of its basketball legends on Monday with the passing of John Shumate. He was a staple and figurehead in the community and in the sport for nearly two decades, first as a player for the Suns, and then as a coach with Grand Canyon, the Mercury and the Suns.

After finishing a tremendous college career at Notre Dame, Shumate was drafted 4th overall by the Suns in the 1974 draft. He went on to play in the NBA until 1983 when he decided to move on to coaching. His coaching career began at Grand Canyon where he went 58-33. Shumate later coached at SMU before deciding to move on to the professional level. In 1995 he took an assistant coaching position with the Toronto Raptors. After that, he returned to the Valley and was the head coach for the Mercury in 2003. His coaching career would finish by coming full circle as in 2009 he accepted an assistant coaching position with the Suns.

All across the basketball world, reactions came in from his passing.