Keith Shamburger speaks with experience. He’s been through it all.
“When the going gets tough, he’s been there,” Missouri coach Kim Anderson said of his senior guard. “No one else on this team has really been there before.”
It’d be difficult to find many college athletes in the country who have experienced the same amount of adjustments that Shamburger has had to make: three high schools, three colleges, six different coaches in eight years, two of them being fired. Shamburger has transferred schools four times in the past seven years and has lost two years of competitive basketball in the process.
“To be honest with you, I wish it never went out like this,” he said.
But it did, and it started in high school nine years ago. After attending Dominguez High School in Compton, California, his freshman year, Shamburger transferred to Lutheran High School of La Verne in Bonita, California, to play under Eric Cooper, who he had played for since he was 10 years old. Shamburger was on Cooper’s Rising Stars of America team that won the 12-and-under Amaetur Athletic Association National Championship in 2005.
Cooper describes Shamburger as a “very competitive person,” whether it be shooting free throws or playing cards.
“Anything where he can challenge you, he will try to beat you,” Cooper said. “He has a dominating personality and he just competes.”
Their championship success together continued at the high school level. The Trojans won their first 24 games en route to a 29-1 season during Shamburger’s sophomore year. The season concluded with a California Interscholastic Federation Division V championship. Shamburger averaged 14 points per game, six rebounds and 7.9 assists and won the Southern Section Division’s John R. Wooden Award, given to the most valuable player in each of the five CIF Southern Section divisions.
Despite the championship and recognition, Shamburger decided to transfer to Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, California, to be closer to his home in Los Angeles.
“It definitely was tough (to lose Keith),” Cooper said. “We had a lot of good pieces, but we lost in the championship game the next year. If he had been there, we would’ve won.”
Shamburger then sat out his junior season due to transfer rules.
He continued to win at his third high school. His senior year consisted of a 34-2 record and another CIF championship, this time Division III. In the state championship game, Shamburger led the Cavaliers in scoring with 14 points in Junipero Serra’s 63-59 win over Bishop O’Dowd.
Shamburger averaged 21.3 points per game his senior season of high school. He added on with 4 rebounds per game, 4 assists per game and 2.3 steals per game, and was named a CIF Southern Section Co-Player of the Year for the second time.
>”I wish it never went out like this,” Shamburger said.
Shamburger’s high school basketball career concluded with a 87-11 record over three high school seasons and three different schools.
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Shamburger’s journey had just begun.
Coming out of high school, Shamburger committed to San Jose State. After starting all 63 games in his first two years for the Spartans, rumors of the college firing its head basketball coach, George Nessman, began to catch fire following records of 17-16 and 9-22 in those two years. San Jose State ultimately did fire Nessman, after one more season, but Shamburger was already gone.
He couldn’t take the uncertainty, he said, so after his sophomore year he made the first transfer of his college career to Hawaii, leaving behind the 12.7 points per game and 3.7 assists per game he averaged in two seasons with the Spartans.
Shamburger sat out the 2012-13 season due to NCAA transfer guidelines. One year later, he started 30 of 31 games at point guard for Hawaii and led the team in assists (5.4) and free throw percentage (.832) to go along with 9.3 points per game.
But the coach-firing rumors continued. Following his first season playing as a Rainbow Warrior, Shamburger began hearing once again that his head coach, Gib Arnold, would get fired. This time, Shamburger said someone told him, it would surely happen before the next season starts.
“A lot of people don’t understand the transfer situation I was in; a lot of people never will,” Shamburger said. “My coaches got fired. I just got lucky that I transferred early this year before my coach got fired.”
Arnold and assistant coach Brandyn Akana would be fired on Oct. 28, Shamburger’s 22nd birthday.
But Shamburger had already jumped ship months earlier. On May 10, Shamburger officially transferred to Missouri, where he would both continue his education as a graduate student and play his final collegiate basketball season.
“With Hawaii, I was just dealing with a whole lot of distractions with who the coach is, who’s not the coach,” Shamburger added. “I’m just glad I’m in this situation with Coach Anderson and his first year here. I don’t have to worry about my coach getting fired.”
Just like that, Mizzou had acquired the 2013 Big West Conference’s leader in assists per game.
>”A lot of people don’t understand the transfer situation I was in; a lot of people never will,” Shamburger said.
Shamburger said former Mizzou guard Jabari Brown played a big role in Shamburger picking Missouri. According to Shamburger, he and Brown, who is currently playing in the NBA Development League, have been close since fifth grade, playing basketball together back in California.
Coming from Hawaii to the Midwest, Shamburger said the only downside to the transfer was his buddy Jabari not leaving him a coat.
“Jabari told me this was a good place for him like that,” Shamburger said. “I put my trust in him, and I still believe him.”
But it was the quick connection Shamburger developed with Anderson and assistant coach Bryan Tibaldi that really sealed the deal. Shamburger said he likes how Anderson pushes the Tigers but still gives them the freedom to “do what they can do.”
“When you’re a fifth-year senior and your time is limited on relationships and you build a relationship with somebody so quick like that, I had to trust him,” Shamburger said.
The trust is mutual.
In his first year with the program, Shamburger has started all six games thus far for the Tigers. He has seen an average of 32.4 minutes on the floor, good for second on the team. In that time, he is averaging 8.3 points per game, 3.2 assists per game and 2.3 rebounds.
“I’ve been pleased with what he’s done,” Anderson said. “I think he’s just going to get better and better as he continues to play.”
Anderson said his point guard doesn’t have to score to be effective. According to the coach, Shamburger brings a sense of intelligence, maturity and stability to the court often occupied by underclassmen Tigers.
“There might be some nights where Keith will score 12 points or there might be nights where he doesn’t score, but he’s still a valuable part of our team,” Anderson said. “You’re bringing the ball up (the court) against Arizona; they’re pretty good. You’re bringing the ball up against Purdue. Those are major teams. He’s done that.”
Anderson praises how Shamburger makes the extra pass on offense. He gives up his own shots to find his teammates for better scoring opportunities. He’s tied for the team lead in assists, with 22.
In his high school and early collegiate career, Cooper said Shamburger was more of a shooter. But as time passed, so did Shamburger.
“He’s a very unselfish player,” Cooper said. “He gets people the ball at the right time, and takes his shots at the right time. That’s why everyone likes to play with him.”
He exhibited this in high school. Cooper said that in their storied championship run in Shamburger’s sophomore year, Shamburger made a pass to his teammate with one second left on the clock to give them the championship win.
Cooper calls Shamburger a champion.
“He’s going to be the last man standing,” Cooper said. “No matter what he’s doing, he’s going to be the last guy holding up that ring. He won the championship with me, and he went to Serra High School and won a championship there. He wins championships wherever he goes.”
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A championship is likely not in Shamburger’s sights this season, however.
Shamburger has had his individual struggles; he leads the Tigers in turnovers. And Mizzou is unlikely to win a Southeastern Conference title, let alone an NCAA one.
Shamburger said a successful season for him would be making the tournament, something he did not do in his years at San Jose State and Hawaii. But at 3-3 and with losses against University of Missouri-Kansas City and Purdue, the Tigers will have to play better to get back into tournament talks. Shamburger is ready to face teams like No. 1 Kentucky (Jan. 13 and 29) and No. 18 rival Arkansas (Jan. 24 and Feb. 18).
“I want to play against the top level of competition, so that’s why I came here,” Shamburger said. “That’s why I like it. Every night is going to be a great game. You just have to go out and go as hard as you can, and everything will work out.”
Cooper said Shamburger’s hardworking attitude has always been there. In high school, he was the one encouraging others to do extra in gym. He ran the hardest and led by example.
“He always led them the right way,” Cooper said. “He was the heart and soul of the team. He had the ball in his hand 80 percent of the time and was a coach on the floor. I didn’t have to worry about him.”
At Missouri, Shamburger has been thrown into the role as a leader. He said he didn’t expect to have his teammates’ respect when he arrived in Columbia, and he’s been working to earn it. He has given advice to the freshmen about his experiences with transferring schools.
“To this day I tell them, ‘If you transfer, just transfer because you have to,’” Shamburger said. “I wouldn’t transfer just because I wanted to.”
Shamburger may have not wished for the journey, but he has accepted it.
“It has been a lot on me about that, but at the end of the day I really can’t think about that,” Shamburger said. “I just have to worry about how I’m here now at Missouri.”
Now in his final year of eligibility, Shamburger said he’s finally where he wants to be.
“I’m grateful I’m here,” Shamburger said. “This a ‘dream come true’ place. It’s a good opportunity for me to come out here and do what I can do. My coach has trust in me. There’s nothing else I could ask for.”