Carson Shanks (MA ’18) on his journey from the Final Four to the NBA title
October 30, 2026
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When the New York Knicks won the 2026 NBA championship in San Antonio, Carson Shanks (MA ’18) experienced a sense of déjà vu. Eight years earlier, he was in San Antonio experiencing another unforgettable basketball moment—celebrating Loyola University Chicago’s improbable 2018 Cinderella run to the Final Four as a member of the Rambler men’s basketball team.
Shanks recently accepted an associate head coach role with the Austin Spurs, but in June he celebrated with the Knicks in his previous role as assistant director of video and analytics/player development. We caught up with him to reflect on how his time with the Ramblers helped shape his career.
How did your time with Loyola basketball influence your desire to work in coaching?
By the time I got to Loyola, I knew I wanted to coach. Like every player, the NBA was the dream, but I also knew I wasn’t going to get there by playing—so I started thinking about how else I could stay connected to the game and make an impact. Coaches like Porter Moser, Drew Valentine, and Brian Mullins showed me that even if you aren’t the first name called, you can still be valuable by empowering others and helping set the table for success.
You’ve now been part of two of the most memorable basketball stories of the last decade—the 2018 Loyola Final Four run and the Knicks’ first NBA championship in over 50 years. What connects those experiences?
The biggest connection is the people. Eight years apart, in the same place, I was able to experience two incredible moments with groups that had the same competitive mindset and desire to be the best, even though my role was different in each one.
The relationships you build along the way are what make those experiences special. I still talk to my Loyola teammates every week, and I know years from now I’ll have those same relationships with the guys on the Knicks because of what we went through together.
The other similarity is the combination of talent and character. A lot of teams have talent, but when you have a group where the talent matches the character of the people in the room, special things happen. Both teams had that—high-character people who were committed to each other and found a way to succeed.
