Ron Hunter
Ronald Eugene Hunter (born April 7, 1964) is an American college basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach of the Tulane University Green Wave. His son, R. J. Hunter, was a first-round draft pick for the Boston Celtics.
 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Tulane |
| Conference | The American |
| Record | 55–56 (.495) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 7, 1964 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1982–1986 | Miami (OH) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1987–1993 | Milwaukee (assistant) |
| 1993–1994 | Miami (OH) (assistant) |
| 1994–2011 | IUPUI |
| 2011–2019 | Georgia State |
| 2019–present | Tulane |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 430–331 (.565) 71–40 (.640) NAIA |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Summit League tournament (2003) Summit League regular season (2006) 3 Sun Belt tournament (2015, 2018, 2019) 3 Sun Belt regular season (2014, 2015, 2019) | |
| Awards | |
| 2× Summit League Coach of the Year (2003, 2006) Sun Belt Coach of the Year (2014) | |
High school
Hunter attended and played for Chaminade-Julienne High School in Dayton, Ohio from 1978 to 1982.
Coaching career
IUPUI
From 1994 to 2011, Hunter served as the head coach at IUPUI.[1] Under his direction, the team advanced from an NAIA program to NCAA Division I. In its third season as a Division I program, Hunter led IUPUI to its first, and thus far only, NCAA tournament appearance in 2003. On January 24, 2008, Hunter coached a game against Oakland University while barefoot. He did this to benefit Samaritan's Feet, a foundation that works to provide hope and love to impoverished children around the world by washing their feet and giving them a new pair of shoes. His goal was to collect 40,000 shoes, however, before tip-off, over 110,000 pairs of shoes had been donated.[2]
Georgia State
On March 21, 2011, it was announced Hunter would replace Rod Barnes as the Georgia State Panthers' men's basketball head coach.[1] During his first season at GSU, Georgia State won 22 games, the fourth most in school history.
Hunter captured national attention for a moment that occurred in the 2015 NCAA tournament. After tearing his Achilles celebrating the Panthers' Sun Belt Conference tournament championship, he was forced to coach their subsequent NCAA appearance while sitting on a rolling stool due to his injury. In their second-round game against the three-seed, Baylor, Hunter's son R.J. hit a deep, game-winning three with seconds left on the clock. When the shot went in, Hunter's stool slipped out from underneath him while exuberantly celebrating, sending him tumbling to the floor while continuing to display his jubilation. The moment spurred a torrent of media attention and resulted in multiple features, interviews, and a spot in 'One Shining Moment' at the conclusion of the tournament.[3]
On November 20, 2017, in a win over Eastern Washington, Hunter earned his 400th career win.[4]
Ron Hunter has played a key role in the ongoing transformation of the athletics culture at Georgia State, particularly with the basketball program and their continuing ascension from being one of the most unsuccessful programs in NCAA Division I history to being one of the premier Mid-Major programs in the nation. Some of Ron Hunter's most notable wins as head of coach of Georgia State are: VCU (2011),[5] #16 Baylor (2015), Georgia (2018)[6] and Alabama (2018).[7] Hunter also notched a win against crosstown foe, Georgia Tech, in a 2017 charity exhibition known as the 'A-Town Showdown for Hurricane Relief'.[8]
Tulane
On March 24, 2019, Hunter was named the head coach at Tulane, replacing Mike Dunleavy.[9]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IUPUI Jaguars (NAIA Independent) (1994–1998) | |||||||||
| 1994–95 | IUPUI | 16–13 | Second Round NAIA Great Lakes Region | ||||||
| 1995–96 | IUPUI | 22–7 | |||||||
| 1996–97 | IUPUI | 16–11 | |||||||
| 1997–98 | IUPUI | 17–9 | |||||||
| IUPUI (NAIA): | 71-40 (.640) | ||||||||
| IUPUI Jaguars (Mid-Continent Conference/The Summit League) (1998–2011) | |||||||||
| 1998–99 | IUPUI | 11–16 | 6–8 | 6th | |||||
| 1999–00 | IUPUI | 7–21 | 4–12 | 8th | |||||
| 2000–01 | IUPUI | 11–18 | 6–10 | 6th | |||||
| 2001–02 | IUPUI | 15–15 | 6–8 | 6th | |||||
| 2002–03 | IUPUI | 20–14 | 10–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2003–04 | IUPUI | 3–11* | 2–6* | 2nd | |||||
| 2004–05 | IUPUI | 16–13 | 9–7 | 4th | |||||
| 2005–06 | IUPUI | 19–10 | 13–3 | T–1st | |||||
| 2006–07 | IUPUI | 15–15 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 2007–08 | IUPUI | 26–7 | 15–3 | 2nd | |||||
| 2008–09 | IUPUI | 16–14 | 9–9 | 4th | |||||
| 2009–10 | IUPUI | 25–11 | 15–3 | 2nd | CBI Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2010–11 | IUPUI | 19–14 | 12–6 | 3rd | |||||
| IUPUI: | 203-179 (.531) | 114–86 (.570) | |||||||
| Georgia State Panthers (Colonial Athletic Association) (2011–2013) | |||||||||
| 2011–12 | Georgia State | 22–12 | 11–7 | 5th | CIT Second round | ||||
| 2012–13 | Georgia State | 15–16 | 10–8 | 5th | |||||
| Georgia State Panthers (Sun Belt Conference) (2013–2019) | |||||||||
| 2013–14 | Georgia State | 25–9 | 17–1 | 1st | NIT first round | ||||
| 2014–15 | Georgia State | 25–10 | 15–5 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2015–16 | Georgia State | 16–14 | 9–11 | 6th | |||||
| 2016–17 | Georgia State | 20–13 | 12–6 | 2nd | CIT first round | ||||
| 2017–18 | Georgia State | 24–11 | 12–6 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Georgia State | 24–10 | 13–5 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| Georgia State: | 171–95 (.643) | 99–49 (.669) | |||||||
| Tulane Green Wave (American Athletic Conference) (2019–present) | |||||||||
| 2019–20 | Tulane | 12–18 | 4–14 | 12th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Tulane | 10–13 | 4–12 | 10th | |||||
| 2021–22 | Tulane | 14–15 | 10–8 | 5th | |||||
| 2022–23 | Tulane | 20–11 | 12–6 | 3rd | |||||
| Tulane: | 56–57 (.496) | 30–40 (.429) | |||||||
| Total: | 430–331 (.565) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
*18 wins (including 8 conference wins) vacated by NCAA.[10]
Personal life
Hunter and his wife, Amy, have two children: Jasmine and R. J. Hunter
References
- Ron Hunter leaves IUPUI to be coach at Georgia State - ESPN
- "IUPUI coach will roam sidelines barefoot to help charity". ESPN.com. 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
- Cooper, Sam (March 19, 2015). "Dramatic R. J. Hunter 3-pointer gives Georgia State upset over Baylor (Video)". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
- Holmes, Mike. "Panthers ToP EWU 68-50; Hunter Earns 400TH Career Win". GeorgiaStateSports.com. Georgia State University. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
- Holmes, Mike. "11 IN A ROW! GSU EARNS FIRST WIN AT VCU, 55-53". GeorgiaStateSports.com. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- Bradley, Mark. "Georgia State beats UGA by 24, and it was no upset". AJC.com. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- "Georgia State scores dramatic upset of Alabama". AJC.com. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- "PANTHERS TOP TECH 65-58 IN 'A-TOWN SHOWDOWN'". GeorgiaStateSports.com. Georgia State University. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
- Bradley, Mark (March 24, 2019). "Ron Hunter says he's leaving Georgia State for Tulane". Atlanta Journal–Constitution. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- 2014-15 IUPUI Record Book, p. 6.