Former Indiana Pacers player, current assistant Shayne Whittington joins Western Michigan University coaching staff

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Pacers assistant Shayne Whittington has taken a coaching job with Western Michigan University.

Whittington, 33, joined the Pacers in June of 2023 as a Team Assistant. In that assignment, he worked with film, player development, scouting, and other important behind the scenes tasks. Last season was his first in the role.

Now, he’s headed to Western Michigan to become an assistant coach on head men’s basketball coach Dwayne Stephens’ staff. Stephens has been the head coach since 2022, and Whittington played for Western Michigan during his college days. The frontcourt player spent four years with the Broncos from 2009-2014.

During his senior season, Whittington averaged 16.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. That led to an NBA contract with the Pacers, which is where he spent the only two seasons of his NBA career. He chose to play for the blue and gold despite also having an offer from the San Antonio Spurs. He went overseas for the next few campaigns.

“Shayne is a huge addition to our staff,” Stephens said in a statement. “From his playing days to coaching, Shayne has unbelievable experience and knows what it takes to win at the highest level. He will be a great mentor to our current student-athletes and will help continue to strengthen our relationships amongst alums, the community and donors.”

Whittington averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in his two seasons with the Pacers. “We were super excited that they called,” Whittington remembered of being originally signed by Indiana in an appearance on the Locked On Pacers podcast.

The Michigan native now heads back to his home state to progress in his coaching career. Indiana went 47-35 in the one season that Whittington was on staff.