ALEXANDRIA, Va. — One of the most entertaining scenes here at the Nike Global Challenge happened off the court Friday when North Carolina coach Roy Williams — and many others — got a good laugh at the expense of Phoenix Suns scout John Shumate.
The laughs began when Dennis Marshall, the father of former Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall, approached Shumate to talk about his son, the Suns’ first-round draft pick.
“Kendall Marshall’s dad came up to say hello and just to visit a little bit and I told him that John was down there,” Williams told SNY.tv. “I told him that John was down there, I said he would love to say hello to you because they’re thrilled with being able to draft him.
“And so Dennis went down there and when he said something to him, John didn’t understand what he said so John didn’t know who he was so he walked away.”
Williams then began good-naturedly shouting at Shumate — across the gym — to inform him that the man approaching him was Kendall’s father.
“I said, ‘John, that was Kendall Marshall’s father and all the other scouts down there started getting on him and everything,'” Williams said.
“So I told John, ‘Here I give you one of those prime situations where you can make a great impression and you blew the guy off.’
“So it was a lot of fun.”
Shumate declined comment.
