William & Mary Athletics

Austin Shaver completed his seventh season as an assistant coach and his ninth overall at W&M in 20181-9. Shaver helped in guiding the Tribe to the Colonial Athletic Association Regular Season Championship and a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance in 2015 along with three-straight 20-win seasons. During his seven seasons as an assistant, the Tribe averaged nearly 18 wins per season.

Shaver joined the Tribe staff in 2010-11 as the program’s director of basketball operations. He spent two seasons in that capacity before being promoted to the assistant coach position prior to the 2012-13 season.

During his first season as an assistant, W&M enjoyed one of the best turnarounds in program history during the 2012-13 season. And followed that up with W&M’s seventh and eighth 20-win seasons and back-to-back CAA Championship Game appearances.

In 2016-17 and 2017-19, the Tribe established school records for points per game, points scored, 3-point percentage, 3-pointers made, free throw percentage, fewest turnovers per game and assist-to-turnover ratio.

As an assistant, Shaver oversaw the development of the Tribe big men, including two-time All-CAA forwards Tim Rusthoven and Nathan Knight. Rusthoven wrapped up his W&M career as one of just six players in program annals with 1,200 career points and 600 rebounds. Tribe big men received the team’s most improved player award in three of Shaver’s seven seasons. Rusthoven took home of the honor in 2012-13, while Sean Sheldon garnered the distinction in 2013-14 and again as a senior in 2015-16. Following his senior season, Sheldon played professionally in Switzerland. After earning CAA All-Rookie honors in 2017, Knight was a Mid-Major All-American in 2018. A two-time All-CAA selection, Knight was named to the first team in 2019 and was also selected as one of five finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Prior to joining the Green and Gold, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Hampden-Sydney for former Tribe assistant Dee Vick along with a year as a graduate assistant at VCU under Anthony Grant.

At Hampden-Sydney, Shaver was an assistant for two seasons under former Tribe assistant Dee Vick. During Shaver’s tenure, the Tigers returned to the semifinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship in 2009 and defeated two nationally-ranked top-20 programs in 2010. HSC also produced the program’s first-ever ODAC Rookie of the Year in Harrison George during the 2009-10 campaign. Shaver had a hand in recruiting a number of players on Hampden-Sydney’s roster that finished among the top schools in the ODAC at 19-8 in 2011-12.

Shaver graduated in 2007 from the University of Virginia with a degree in psychology. During his senior year at UVA, Shaver was an assistant coach at perennial Virginia Independent Schools power Miller School while serving as a head coach for the East Coast Fusion AAU program. Shaver also spent a summer coaching with the touted Boo Williams AAU organization that consistently develops the top basketball talent in the state of Virginia.

Upon graduation from UVA, Shaver joined the VCU Center for Sport Leadership graduate program, earning his master’s degree while working as a graduate assistant for the Colonial Athletic Association Regular Season Champion Rams under former Alabama head coach Anthony Grant. Shaver co-directed the 2008 VCU Center for Sport Leadership International Showcase that brought in players fresh from college as well as agents from professional teams looking to offer contracts.