AJC: Ron Hunter knows free shoes can change a life

AJC Link

Great write up by Doug on CRH.  I'm glad to have this guy as our coach.

Former Georgia State Basketball Coach Lefty Driesell Inducted Into SoCon HOF

Great article and thanks to The Voice for shooting it to me.

ESPN Link

Georgia State Men's Basketball Scholarship Update

Have been asked a few times in the last few days since Manny Atkins has arrived about the roster breakdown moving into the 2010-11 season and beyond.  Here's how it looks:

Seniors for the 2011-2012 season (7):
SF Jihad Ali
C Eric Buckner
SF Jordan DeMercy
PG James Fields
PF Brandon McGee
SF Josh Micheaux
PF Jamar Taylor

Rising Juniors (1):
C James Vincent

Rising Sophomores (4):
SF Harold Doby
SG Rashaad Richardson
PG Devonta White
SF Manny Atkins*

Incoming Freshman (1):
SF Tony Kimbro, Jr.

Verbal Commits (1):
SG R.J. Hunter

*Atkins will RS in 2011-12 and be a RS Junior in 2012-13.

We'll lose 7 Seniors this season and we have 1 verbal from RJ Hunter.  I expect to sign 3-4 in November and possibly an additional 3 in the late signing period.  I also expect to see several Metro Atlanta prospects as Coach Hunter and Asst. Coach Darryl Labarrie have been burning up the recruiting trail.

RJ Hunter Commits to Georgia State basketball!

RJ is a Panther!

Photo Courtesy of InsidePreps.net

As expected, 2012 recruit Pike HS (IN) guard RJ Hunter has verbally committed to his Dad and Georgia State.  He is the first committment for the 2012 cycle and third committment in the short time Coach Ron Hunter has been on the job.

ESPN Scouts, Inc. Report on Hunter:

Strengths:

R.J. is a long and slim perimeter player. He competes and is productive on the court. R.J. can put the ball on the floor to create offense and is a solid passer on the perimeter. He is skilled and is a good shooter with range to 22 feet. He is the son of current IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter.

Weaknesses:
He definitely needs to add muscle to his frame but I would not call him soft. He can get his share of rebounds but added strength will definitely help him be more productive on the boards.

Bottom Line:
Hunter is good now but has a tremendous upside moving forward. As he continues to grow he has the feel and look of a smaller, right handed Tayshaun Prince.

2011 recruit Tony Kimbro, Jr. and Virginia Tech transfer Manny Atkins have already signed and are expected to be on campus in June when the team convenes for summer workouts.

Indianapolis Star Link

AJC Blog Link & AJC Article Link

Men's Basketball Opens in Seattle

Looks like the first games in the Ron Hunter Era are set, according to SB Nation Seattle.

November 12th - 14th the Panthers will take on Washington, Portland and old Atlantic Sun foe Florida Atlantic.

Athlon Sports Likes Ron Hunter Hire

Mitch Light: I’m going off the radar a bit with Ron Hunter, the new head coach at Georgia State. Hunter only made the NCAA Tournament once during his time at IUPUI — losing as a No. 16 seed to Kentucky in 2003 — but his teams were consistently among the best in the Summit League. The Jaguars were 106–56 in their 10 seasons in the Summit, with only one losing record — 6–8 in ’01-02, their first year in the league. Hunter is very charismatic, and he will do his best to promote the Georgia State program in the city of Atlanta. The Panthers have struggled to compete in the ever-improving CAA, but that should change with Hunter in charge.



Athlon Sports Link

National Hoops Report Interview with Coach Hunter

Photo Courtesy National Hoops Report

Very interesting interview with Coach Ron Hunter.  As always, new things pop out in each one of CRH's interviews.

Things of note:
-On thoughts of CAA not being a geographic fit for Georgia State:

“I don’t really buy into that. I’ve been good friends with Rod Barnes for a long time. I truly believe that the culture needs to change here. There has been a culture of losing here for too long. I think it’s a culture of settling for so long. When you keep to that and you start giving yourself excuses why you can’t win, you see programs buy into that. You see programs believe the excuses. If the coaches start to believe that, what do you expect the players to believe when they hear stuff like that?

-On April evaluation period:

“It hurts us not having April. I’m on the board of directors of the NABC and I sit on several NCAA boards. Matter of fact, I’m going to Indianapolis (on Wednesday) to meet with the basketball committee where will talk about this. When I was at IUPUI, I didn’t think April was that big. But now that I’m at a new job and April is off limits, I’m realizing that it is essential to new coaches to have April. Most of the coaches that are hired are hired in March or early April. Not being able to get a start on 2012 recruiting or to finish recruiting is just a huge liability. I think we need to cut back in July and spend more time in April. I am actually one of the guys that voted against recruiting in April but I completely changed my mind with that."

National Hoops Report Link

Updated: Tony Kimbro, Jr. Commits to Georgia State

2011 Recruit Tony Kimbro, Jr.

Photo Courtesy of Scout.com

Yesterday our friends at OnTheRadarHoops broke the story that  6'6 Shooting Guard Tony Kimbro, Jr. of Jefferstown HS (Louisville, KY) was on campus for an official visit.  Within the last hour, the Louisville Courier Journal has confirmed what my sources told me late last night: He is a Panther!

Kimbro is a big time scorer and shoots very well from 3 point range (some stats I've seen as high as 46% during his Junior year).  He was an academic question mark but a two year stint with The Christ School in Arden, NC hammered that out.  Rivals.com rates him as a 3 star recruit and ESPN Scout, Inc. rates him as the #51 SG in the country and a 90 overall rank. 

To give you an idea, PG Devonta White is the highest rated player on our roster and he was rated an 86 coming out of HS.

Kimbro Senior Highlight Tape:

                

Louisville Courier Journal Link

AJC Link

Indy Star: RJ Hunter Down to Four

In a mildly suprising move, RJ Hunter, son of Head Coach Ron Hunter, has cut his list of schools to four: Virginia Tech, Iowa, Wake Forest and Georgia State.

The fact that we made the cut is a tremendously good sign.

Also mentioned in this blog, Zavier Turner, RJ's point guard at Pike and a 2013, recruit has already picked up an offer from Coach Hunter.

Indianapolis Star Link

Coach Hunter Completes Staff

Not a ton of new information here but glad to see the return of Claude Pardue and Tony Bollier along with Darryl Labarrie and Everick Sullivan.

Georgia State Sports Link

AJC: Mark Bradley: GSU Made Best Hire

Mark Bradley posted a blog update rating the three Georgia Universities (Kennesaw State, Georgia Tech and Georgia State) and their basketball coaching hires. According to Bradley, GSU made the best hire.

"I’d give solid B’s to Tech’s and KSU’s new men, and I’d give something better to Georgia State’s."

AJC Link

AJC: Hunter will not be recruiting son

Good work by our guy Michael Carvell.

AJC Link

Source: Eastern Kentucky's Everick Sullivan Joins Hunter's Staff

Per Eastern Kentucky's Asst. Basketball Coach Austin Newton's Twitter page, Everick Sullivan is the second Asst. Coach hired by Georgia State men's basketball coach Ron Hunter.


Sullivan's Resume:
-Played for Denny Crum at Louisville and graduated in 1988-92
-Wabash Valley (Assistant Coach, 2002-04)
-Lincoln Trail (Head Coach, 2004-05)
-Vincennes (Head Coach, 2005-08)
-Eastern Kentucky (Assistant Coach, 2008-2010)
-Eastern Kentucky (Associate Head Coach, 2010-present)

Sullivan joins Darryl Labarrie and I fully expect an announcement of the rest of the staff next week.

Last day working with Everick Sullivan. Great coach, recruiter, and even better person. Learned a lot from him and wish him all the best!

My Interview with Coach Ron Hunter

Special thanks to Ron Hunter for joining me last night.

SB Nation Atlanta Link

Jackson Clarion Ledger: Barnes back, building beginning in Bakersfield

Interesting nuggets in this one.

Clarion Ledger.com Link

VCU's Run Nets Georgia State $193K

Not too shabby.  Thanks to the Rams for this.  As we discussed a few weeks ago, the CAA does not share profits equally and rewards the teams who actually compete in the postseason. 

Let's hope we can return the favor very soon.

Wilmington Star News Link

AJC: GSU Knows Success against VCU

Scoreboard don't lie.

Photo Courtesy of Mike Holmes, GSU Sports Communications

Yes we do.  Ask them about that whoopin' in the GSU Sports Arena that lit a fire under them.  Coach Smart, we'll take our fruit basket once you get settled after that enormous raise in either Raleigh or Columbia.

On a serious note, great work by our guy Ken at the AJC. 

I hope you have enjoyed the tremendous coverage in the last 2 months.  There are many working behind the scenes to push Georgia State on the pages and getting in front of new eyes and ears daily.

AJC Link

Coach Hunter on XL950 in Indy

More nuggets from CRH.

XL950 Link

The Voice Sits Down With Coach Hunter

GSU Sports Communications Release

AJC: Ron Hunter, Dreamer of Dreams

Mark Bradley weighs in on our new coach.

AJC Link