LIVINGSTON – Shannon Turner has been named as women’s assistant basketball coach at the University of West Alabama, according to an announcement today by head coach Craig Roden.

Turner comes to West Alabama from Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C., where she has served as an assistant coach since 2009. Prior to that, she both coached and played for Roden at the University of West Georgia.

“We are very fortunate to have Shannon join our women’s basketball program,” Roden said. “I have known her for years as both a player and as an assistant coach. She is definitely a people person who will fit in well in the West Alabama community.

“Shannon is a great recruiter who will make her mark on our program in that area over the next few years,” Roden said. “She is not only one of the top assistant coaches I have ever had, but she is also one of the top recruiters I have ever had on a staff.”

Turner served as an assistant for Roden at West Georgia from 2004 through 2009 and was also an assistant coach at Bremen (Ga.) High School prior to stepping into the collegiate coaching ranks.

She began her playing career at Union Junior College before transferring to West Georgia. During the 1995-96 season she led the Wolves in rebounding and served as team captain.

A Bowden, Ga., native, Turner earned her Bachelor of Science in Sport Management from West Georgia in 2007. She is the mother of one daughter, Halie Nicole (13).