Umar Shannon was named as an assistant coach at Saint Peter's in the summer of 2021 and enters his second season as an assistant coach, now under head coach Bashir Mason.

Shannon comes to Jersey City from his alma mater, Saint Francis University, after spending the past five seasons on the Red Flash men’s basketball coaching staff. He revolutionized the Red Flash guard play, developing an AP Honorable Mention All-American, a pair of NEC Player of the Years, and five guards into a total of eight all-conference selections. Shannon also evolved a former walk-on into the NEC Most Improved Player award following the 2017-18 season.

Shannon played three years at Saint Francis from 2009-13, scoring 936 points and averaging 12.6 points per game. He had his best season in a Red Flash uniform as a sophomore, leading the team with 15.8 points per game en route to All-NEC Second Team and NABC All-District honors. His 68 three pointers that year are currently tied for 10th all-time in school history for a single season. Shannon completed his collegiate career as a graduate transfer at MAAC member Quinnipiac University, averaging 14.3 points per game for the Bobcats and surpassing the 1,000-point plateau in the process. Following his collegiate career,

Shannon signed with KB Besa Peja of the Kosovo SuperLeague, the top league in that nation. In nine games with the team, Shannon averaged 12.9 points per game while averaging a team-best 5.4 assists per game.

A native of Atlantic City, N.J., Shannon earned his Bachelor's degree from Saint Francis in 2013 and earned a Master's in journalism from Quinnipiac in 2014.