# 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 NBA draft pick for the Boston Celtics.

## 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. 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.

### Georgia State

On March 21, 2011, it was announced Hunter would replace Rod Barnes as the Georgia State Panthers' men's basketball head coach. 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.
On November 20, 2017, in a win over Eastern Washington, Hunter earned his 400th career win.
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), #16 Baylor (2015), Georgia (2018) and Alabama (2018). Hunter also notched a win against crosstown foe, Georgia Tech, in a 2017 charity exhibition known as the 'A-Town Showdown for Hurricane Relief'.

### Tulane

On March 24, 2019, Hunter was named the head coach at Tulane, replacing Mike Dunleavy.

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| IUPUI Jaguars (NAIA Independent) (1994–1998) ||||||
| 1994–95 | IUPUI | 16–13 | | | |
| 1995–96 | IUPUI | 22–7 | | | |
| 1996–97 | IUPUI | 16–11 | | | |
| 1997–98 | IUPUI | 17–9 | | | |
| 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: | IUPUI: | 274–219 (.556) | 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: | 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 | |
| 2023–24 | Tulane | 14–17 | 5–13 | T–10th | |
| 2024–25 | Tulane | 19–14 | 12–6 | 4th | CBC |
| Tulane: | Tulane: | 89–88 (.503) | 47–59 (.443) | | |
| Total: | Total: | 534–402 (.571) | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||
*18 wins (including 8 conference wins) vacated by NCAA

## Personal life

Hunter and his wife, Amy, have two children: Jasmine and Ronald (R. J.).