| Eddie Shannon | |
|---|---|
| Position | Point guard |
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 76 kg (167 lb) |
| Team | Free Agent |
| Nationality | United States |
| Born | 29 January 1977 West Palm Beach, Florida |
| Junior Association | University of Florida |
| Previous Clubs | BK Ventspils (LBL) (2006-2007) Strasbourg IG (LNB) (2007-2008) KK Split (Liga ABA) (2009) AEK Athens B.C. (2010) Adelaide 36ers (2010-11) |
| Career Highlights | Adriatic League All Defensive Team in 2009 |
Eddie Shannon (born January 29, 1977 in West Palm Beach, Florida) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL.
Shannon, a native of West Palm Beach in Florida, has played his entire career essentially with only one eye. While playing with some of his seventh-grade friends, Eddie was unintentionally hit in the right eye with a rock, forever altering his vision. Following the accident, he underwent surgery to remove blood clots from his eye, and a year later, had a cataract removed. As an eighth grader, his vision began to blur, and he could only see shadows. Even with limited vision, Eddie went on to star for Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach which led him to be recruited by the University of Florida where he became the Florida Gators starting Point Guard and is among the schools all-time leaders in assists and steals.
Despite Shannon continuing to excel on the basketball court, the vision in his right eye got progressively worse. After consulting a doctor, he made the decision to have a certain type of surgery, known as an Evisceration, which involves removing parts of his eye. He was eventually fitted with a cosmetic prosthesis that covers his damaged cornea leading him to wear goggles when playing, though he has since discarded them.
Most of Shannon's professional career has been played in European leagues which included stints with KK Split in Croatia and Strasbourg IG in France. In all he spent some nine seasons in Europe including a stint as team mate to Australian Boomers center Chris Anstey at PBC Ural Great in Russia.
Eddie Shannon signed as an import player for the Adelaide 36ers mid-way through the 2010-11 NBL season and made his debut for the club as a substitute against the Wollongong Hawks on December 10, 2010 where he scored 12 points and had 5 assists in a solid debut for his new team.[1] For the rest of the NBL season Shannon started all bar two games for the 36ers, only missing the two games due to an ankle sprain.[2] At the end of the 2010-11 season Shannon had played 18 games for the 36ers and averaged 9.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.[3]