SHUMATE SELLING CARS

Ron Shumate is back in the driver's seat.

But instead of selling basketball players on playing for Southeast Missouri State University, the fired basketball coach is selling cars.

Shumate began training this week for a sales job at the Crown Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Nissan dealership in Cape Girardeau.

"Right now, I am trying to learn the products," Shumate said Tuesday.

Cape Girardeau accountant Gary Stanley is the principal owner of Crown Cadillac.

Stanley said he hired Shumate for his work ethic and leadership. He said Shumate will start out in sales and later could move into a management position.

"I am bringing him into the team with a lot of expectations. A lot of them revolve around public relations," Stanley said.

He said he expects Shumate to serve as a motivational leader with the dealership's staff.

"I do think he is a leader and I think he leads by example," said Stanley, who is a fan of Southeast basketball and an athletic booster.

Stanley said he respects Shumate. "I think he wants to prove that he can be a winner off the court."

In May, the university's Board of Regents fired Shumate as the head men's basketball coach amid an NCAA investigation of the basketball program.

Shumate, who insisted he had done nothing wrong, won more games than any other basketball coach in the school's history. In 16 seasons, he compiled a record of 306 wins and 171 losses.

Overall, he was 445-232 as a collegiate head coach. He also has worked as a high school coach.

"It is hard to walk away from a profession that you have been in for 30 years," Shumate said.

But at this point, the 57-year-old Shumate isn't looking to get back into coaching.

He said it isn't unusual in today's society to change careers several times.

Still, he wouldn't rule out returning to coaching some day. "You never say never," he said. "I don't think that is a word that should be in the dictionary."

Shumate refused to comment about whether he plans to file a lawsuit against the university over his firing.

He said he felt good about what he accomplished with the basketball program, both on and off the court. He said 88 percent of his players graduated from college.

Shumate has steered clear of the university since his firing. "I plan to stay as far away from the university and the athletic department as I can get."

He said the move from coaching to car sales isn't as big as some might think.

He said coaching is a sales job when it comes to recruiting players.

Shumate has done sales work before. After his stint as basketball coach with the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, he worked in sales for Blue Cross Blue Shield for 14 months before taking the coaching job at Southeast in 1981.

Despite the firing, Shumate said he wanted to stay in Cape Girardeau. "This is my home," he said.

His wife, Peg, also has a business in Cape Girardeau. "She is the breadwinner right now," Shumate said.