Shawn Forrest is in his first season as an assistant coach at UTSA.
“Shawn has a great reputation as a coach and as a recruiter,” head coach Steve Henson said when he announced Forrest's hiring on May 9. “We want to have a great recruiting presence in the state of Texas and Shawn will be a big part of that. He has recruited the state very well in the past and we expect that to continue in the future. We’re very excited to welcome Shawn and his family to UTSA.”
“I’m very grateful and appreciative of Coach Henson for giving me this opportunity,” Forrest said. “I’m glad to join the great staff that Coach Henson already has assembled and I’m looking forward to meeting our team. There’s a lot of excitement at UTSA right now and I want to do all that I can to help get this program back to the NCAA Tournament soon.”
An 18-year veteran of collegiate coaching, Forrest comes to UTSA after a three-year stint at Western Kentucky in which he helped lead the Hilltoppers to at least 18 wins each season, including a pair of 20-win campaigns.
Last season, WKU totaled 18 victories and advanced to the Conference USA Tournament semifinals after it knocked off top seed and regular season champion UAB. The win was the first for a UAB opponent in Birmingham in more than a year.
Forrest also was instrumental in the development of T.J. Price and George Fant, who earned first and second team all-conference honors following the 2014-15 season, which was the Hilltoppers' first as a member of C-USA.
Price finished the season as the league’s leading scorer at 17.6 points per game to go along with 5.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest. The duo finished their careers near the top of the program record books in multiple categories.
That came on the heels of a 20-win campaign and second-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference during his first season on the WKU staff.
Prior to his time in Bowling Green, Ky., Forrest spent the 2012-13 campaign as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette where he helped mentor first-team all-conference guard Elfrid Payton, who was the 10th selection in the 2014 NBA Draft following his career with the Ragin’ Cajuns.
During a four-year tenure at North Texas (2008-12) he helped the Mean Green average 21 wins per season, highlighted by a school-record 24 wins and Sun Belt Tournament title in 2010. The tournament crown gave the Mean Green their third NCAA Tournament appearance.
While in Denton, Forrest was instrumental in helping North Texas land the 2010-11 recruiting class that included Tony Mitchell, Jordan Williams, Chris Jones and Roger Franklin, which was ranked as high as No. 31 in the nation.
He also spent six seasons (2002-08) as an assistant coach at Arkansas State. During his time on staff, the Red Wolves claimed 86 wins and he helped the program land multiple top-100 recruiting classes. Those classes produced a pair of two-time All-Sun Belt performers (Dewarick Spencer/J.J. Montgomery), a Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year honoree (Adrian Banks) and the league’s 2003-04 scoring champion (Spencer).
Forrest came to Arkansas State after serving for a year (2001-02) as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida A&M. He helped the Rattlers to their highest Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference finish in 10 years and he recruited Terrance Woods, who was a two-time first-team all-conference selection. Woods holds the third and fourth-best single-season 3-point field goal totals in NCAA history and won the NABC All-Star 3-Point Contest at the 2014 Final Four in San Antonio.
Forrest got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Troy for three seasons (1998-2001). The Trojans won two Atlantic Sun regular season titles and a tournament title along with an NCAA Tournament and National Invitational Tournament berth during his time.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 1998. Forrest and his wife, Renea, have three daughters, Abri, Aaliyah and Alyssa.
“Shawn has a great reputation as a coach and as a recruiter,” head coach Steve Henson said when he announced Forrest's hiring on May 9. “We want to have a great recruiting presence in the state of Texas and Shawn will be a big part of that. He has recruited the state very well in the past and we expect that to continue in the future. We’re very excited to welcome Shawn and his family to UTSA.”
“I’m very grateful and appreciative of Coach Henson for giving me this opportunity,” Forrest said. “I’m glad to join the great staff that Coach Henson already has assembled and I’m looking forward to meeting our team. There’s a lot of excitement at UTSA right now and I want to do all that I can to help get this program back to the NCAA Tournament soon.”
An 18-year veteran of collegiate coaching, Forrest comes to UTSA after a three-year stint at Western Kentucky in which he helped lead the Hilltoppers to at least 18 wins each season, including a pair of 20-win campaigns.
Last season, WKU totaled 18 victories and advanced to the Conference USA Tournament semifinals after it knocked off top seed and regular season champion UAB. The win was the first for a UAB opponent in Birmingham in more than a year.
Forrest also was instrumental in the development of T.J. Price and George Fant, who earned first and second team all-conference honors following the 2014-15 season, which was the Hilltoppers' first as a member of C-USA.
Price finished the season as the league’s leading scorer at 17.6 points per game to go along with 5.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest. The duo finished their careers near the top of the program record books in multiple categories.
That came on the heels of a 20-win campaign and second-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference during his first season on the WKU staff.
Prior to his time in Bowling Green, Ky., Forrest spent the 2012-13 campaign as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette where he helped mentor first-team all-conference guard Elfrid Payton, who was the 10th selection in the 2014 NBA Draft following his career with the Ragin’ Cajuns.
During a four-year tenure at North Texas (2008-12) he helped the Mean Green average 21 wins per season, highlighted by a school-record 24 wins and Sun Belt Tournament title in 2010. The tournament crown gave the Mean Green their third NCAA Tournament appearance.
While in Denton, Forrest was instrumental in helping North Texas land the 2010-11 recruiting class that included Tony Mitchell, Jordan Williams, Chris Jones and Roger Franklin, which was ranked as high as No. 31 in the nation.
He also spent six seasons (2002-08) as an assistant coach at Arkansas State. During his time on staff, the Red Wolves claimed 86 wins and he helped the program land multiple top-100 recruiting classes. Those classes produced a pair of two-time All-Sun Belt performers (Dewarick Spencer/J.J. Montgomery), a Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year honoree (Adrian Banks) and the league’s 2003-04 scoring champion (Spencer).
Forrest came to Arkansas State after serving for a year (2001-02) as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida A&M. He helped the Rattlers to their highest Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference finish in 10 years and he recruited Terrance Woods, who was a two-time first-team all-conference selection. Woods holds the third and fourth-best single-season 3-point field goal totals in NCAA history and won the NABC All-Star 3-Point Contest at the 2014 Final Four in San Antonio.
Forrest got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Troy for three seasons (1998-2001). The Trojans won two Atlantic Sun regular season titles and a tournament title along with an NCAA Tournament and National Invitational Tournament berth during his time.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 1998. Forrest and his wife, Renea, have three daughters, Abri, Aaliyah and Alyssa.