Jay Shunnar has joined the Butler men's basketball staff as the interim director of basketball operations. He will handle a variety of organizational and administrative duties for the Bulldogs, including team travel.
Most recently, Shunnar served as special assistant to head coaches John Beilein and J.B. Bickerstaff as part of the Cleveland Cavaliers organization. Shunnar also spent time as a graduate assistant at Michigan.
"Given the timing and current circumstances, we're excited about adding someone like Jay who has experienced what's required to operate programs on the high school, college and NBA level," said Butler head coach LaVall Jordan. "He'll be an asset to our staff, and our players will benefit from having him as a key member of our program."
During his time in the NBA, Shunnar's responsibilities included analyzing film, preparing scouts for assistant coaches, assisting in practice planning, and game planning. Shunnar worked closely with the development of guards Collin Sexton and Darius Garland.
Shunnar made the move from Michigan to the Cavaliers alongside Beilein after serving as a graduate assistant with the Wolverines during the 2018-19 season.
At Michigan, his responsibilities included analyzing film, providing analytics to prepare scouting reports and assist in game planning, helping the coaching staff with on-campus recruiting events and co-supervising the student managerial program. During the summer, he assists in coordinating coaching staff recruiting schedules and helps in directing the John Beilein Basketball camps.
Prior to joining the Wolverines, Shunnar spent two seasons (2016-18) as the head coach at Ann Arbor Huron High School, compiling a 34-11 record. Before assuming the head coaching duties, he was an assistant with Huron for one season (2015-16) after spending three seasons at nearby Ann Arbor Skyline High School (2012-15) and coaching on the grassroots scene with the Common Bond AAU program (2012-15).
Shunnar played three seasons at Toledo. As a junior at Toledo, he started 20 of 32 games, averaging 5.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, Shunnar played in 30 games off the bench for the Rockets.
He transferred to Michigan as a senior to complete his undergraduate degree in Material Sciences from U-M's College of Engineering (2014). Shunnar completed a masters degree in higher education and post-secondary education in 2019.
