Suns coach Alvin Gentry has added John Shumate to his staff.

Shumate, who is the team's fourth assistant coach, will travel with the club and focus on improving younger players.

He has spent seven of the last eight years as a scout for Phoenix.

"Shu is a teacher at heart," Suns general manager Steve Kerr told the Arizona Republic. "He's been great on scouting, but with Robin (Lopez) and Earl (Clark) being a big part of our future, we felt it's important to have him as part of the staff."