A rugged pivotman in a major Big East program at St. John's, Shawnelle Scott was drafted and cut by the Portland Trail Blazers, then spent two years honing his skills in the CBA before latching on with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a backup frontcourtman in 1996-97. Scott, a 6-11, 250-pound center, finished his career at St. John's ranked ninth in blocked shots (73), 14th in rebounds (710) and 22nd in points (1,183). He was only the 20th player in school history to total 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. He was a second-round draft choice of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1994 NBA Draft but failed to make the team in training camp. He joined the Oklahoma City Cavalry of the CBA for the 1994-95 season and averaged 3.2 ppg and 2.0 rpg in 50 games. Scott played for the Connecticut Pride of the CBA in 1995-96, averaging 5.4 ppg and 6.2 rpg in 56 games. In 106 games over the two seasons, Scott shot .535 from the field. He signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers prior to the start of 1996-97 training camp and opened the season on the injured list because of an injured left knee. After missing the first 34 games of the season, he was activated on Jan. 13 and remained on Cleveland's roster for the remainder of the season, seeing limited action in 16 games.

1996-1997 REGULAR SEASON
Scott was signed by the Cavaliers as a free agent on Sept. 6, 1996. He missed the first 34 games of the season with a posterior capsule strain of his left knee, but was activated on Jan. 13 and remained on the Cavs' roster for the remainder of the season. He appeared in 16 games but played only a total of 50 minutes, scoring 20 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. He averaged 1.3 points and 1.0 rebounds in 3.1 minutes per game. He scored a career-high five points in a 94-74 loss at Utah on Jan. 20 and grabbed a career-high six rebounds in an 83-79 loss at Miami on March 28.

• Nickname is "Nellie"
• Lists Patrick Ewing and Michael Jordan as his favorite athletes
• Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro are his favorite actors, and his favorite movie is "Carlito's Way"