NEW ORLEANS — Shaun Dumas has dreamed many years of playing professional basketball. On Tuesday morning the Xavier University of Louisiana All-America guard will get a shot to impress another hometown team when he works out for the New Orleans Hornets.
Dumas, who received his bachelor of science degree from Xavier on May 9, will work out for the NBA team with five other collegiate players at the Alario Center in suburban Westwego, La. The process will start at 9:30.
“I’ve been granted an opportunity to make my dreams become reality,” said Dumas, a 5-foot-11 point guard and a 2004 graduate of St. Augustine High School. “It shows that hard work pays off. I’m going to come ready to play and just do what I’ve been doing since I was nine years old.”
Dumas was a third-team NAIA Division I All-American as a senior and sophomore and honorable mention as a junior. He was All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference his final three seasons, the GCAC Freshman of the Year in 2004-05 and the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches Small College Player of the Year in 2006-07. He averaged 14.7 points, 4.2 assists and 3.2 steals per game this past season and finished four seasons at Xavier with 1,434 points, a school-record 380 steals and a school-record-tying 129 games played. Dumas helped
Xavier qualify for the NAIA Division I National Championship his first three seasons, and he helped the Gold Rush in 2007 earn its first victory at nationals since 1973.
Dumas has yet to hire an agent to represent him, but he said Monday he expects to have one secured by the end of this month.
Nearly five months ago Dumas told Peter Steinbauer, a writer for The Times-Picayune newspaper, of his admiration for Hornets point guard Chris Paul, a second-team All-NBA selection this past season.
“I go on YouTube every day before a game and sometimes before practice, and I just watch the way (Paul) plays, his style, how poised he is on the court, and I try to mimic him,” Dumas said.
This will not be Dumas’ first trip to the Alario Center to show his skills in a non-Xavier setting. He drew raves in this same venue in August 2007 at the adidas Basketball Experience, a multigame event for male amateur U.S. and foreign players.
