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PREP BASKETBALL
Tornadoes star Shannon takes his game to the beach

• Former Monroe High School point guard DeJuan Shannon signs a scholarship to play hoops for Palm Beach Community College.

Scott Chancey

ALBANY — DeJuan Shannon has been looking to take his basketball skills to the next level, and Thursday he got his wish.

After starring for Monroe High School this past season, averaging 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as a point guard, Shannon signed a National Letter of Intent with Palm Beach Community College.

“It means a lot,” said Shannon, who was MVP of this past season’s Good Life City Classic. “I get to take my talent to bigger and better places.”

Palm Beach is attractive enough with the sand, sea shells and ocean breeze, but Shannon says there was another reason he choose the school over others pursuing him such as Hiwassee (Tenn.) and Okaloosa-Walton (Fla.).

“Last year, they lost six players and they all transferred to Division I schools,” Shannon said. “This school can get you somewhere if you have good talent.”

PBCC also has another connection to Albany. The school’s coach is Tony Sheals — a former Florida State assistant who recruited former Dougherty star and current Memphis Grizzlies player Alexander Johnson.

Shannon’s talent is something that had been known for quite some time. His coach at Monroe, James Little, noted that coaches often hope for point guards to maybe have one or two prevailing skills that helps him push his teammates to the next level. And since Little had been coaching him, he learned there is more to Shannon than meets the eye.

“He’s a pure point guard,” Little said. “He has all those great qualities that a point guard has.”

The fact that Shannon also stands 6-foot-2 doesn’t hurt, either.

“He has the total package,” Little said.

Knowing he can take advantage of his height in certain situations, especially shooting over a fellow guard, Shannon also feel his rebounding skills can make him a viable recruit should four-year schools come calling.

In the meantime, he’s working on his defense.

“I’m jumping rope and running the sand dunes,” he said. “Defensive skills have a lot to do with quickness.”

As Shannon works out with the AAU’s Albany Bearcats — which already has helped players such as Westover products Dominique Polite and Raheem James sign with Abraham Baldwin and Lee County’s Devaughn Thomas sign with Okaloosa-Walton — AAU coach Reggie Boone notices Shannon’s intangibles.

“He has a will to win, a drive to win,” Boone said. “He’s a hungry basketball player who never gives up, he plays until the end.”

For Shannon, the scholarship means a new beginning.

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