SB Nation Atlanta - Ron Hunter Introduced As Georgia State Basketball Coach https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2011-03-20T22:56:43-04:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/17829692011-03-20T22:56:43-04:002011-03-20T22:56:43-04:00Ron Hunter Hired As Georgia State Basketball Head Coach, According To Ron Hunter
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<p>According to multiple sources and confirmed in interview with the Indianapolis Star’s <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/JeffRabjohns">Jeff Rabjohns</a>, former <span class="caps">IUPUI</span> men’s basketball coach Ron Hunter will be named head men’s basketball coach on Monday at a 3 pm press conference.</p>
<p>Hunter has compiled a career record of 293-219 in 17 seasons with the Jaguars, and he accompanied them on their transition to Division 1 back in 1998. He led <span class="caps">IUPUI</span> to an <span class="caps">NCAA</span> Tournament appearance in 2003, a loss vs. No. 1 seed Kentucky. In the last four seasons, his teams have averaged better than 21 wins and sent 1st round pick George Hill to the NBA in 2008.</p>
<p>On his reasoning of <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indystar.com%2Farticle%2F20110320%2FSPORTS0607%2F110320009%2FRon-Hunter-leaving-IUPUI-head-coaching-job-Georgia-St-%3Fodyssey%3Dmod%257Cnewswell%257Ctext%257CSports%257Cp&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fatlanta.sbnation.com%2Fgeorgia-st-panthers%2F2011%2F3%2F20%2F2062801%2Fgeorgia-state-basketball-ron-hunter-hired-as-head-coach" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">taking the Georgia State job</a>:</p>
<blockquote>"Part of it is, I've been here 17 years and it's time. When you look at what VCU and George Mason have done, it's the best mid-major league in the country in my opinion. It's an urban campus, just like IUPUI, and financially, it's a great package, something I couldn't say no to."</blockquote>
<p><span class="caps">IUPUI</span> ran an uptempo offense averaging nearly 72 points per game and will be a bit of a shift from the defense-first, grind-it-out style under previous Coach Rod Barnes.</p>
<p>It has been well chronicled about how the program was seen as a whole and Hunter has thoughts on that as well:</p>
<blockquote>"It's a great school. They've started football with Bill Curry (in 2008). With basketball, we're going to have to change the culture to a winning culture, just like we did here, and really, that's what I've been doing my whole career."</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6241679&campaign=rss&source=ESPNUHeadlines">Andy Katz</a> is reporting that the deal will be for five years and contain a two year rollover. Hunter is also well known for his charitable endeavors raising awareness for Samaritan’s Feet, whose goal is put shoes on children. Annually, he coaches one game completely barefoot. Hunter was named an <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/WN/PersonOfWeek/story?id=6403273&page=1">ABC News Person of the Week</a> for his efforts in the last three seasons.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-st-panthers/2011/3/20/2062801/georgia-state-basketball-ron-hunter-hired-as-head-coachBen Moore2011-03-01T20:42:46-05:002011-03-01T20:42:46-05:00Georgia State Men's Basketball: New Coach by Final Four?
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<p><a href="http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-state/georgia-state-wants-new-857595.html"><strong>Ken Sugiura of the <span class="caps">AJC</span></strong></a> was able to speak to Georgia State Director of Athletics <strong>Cheryl Levick</strong> about the timeline of hiring a new men’s basketball coach as well as the somewhat uncoventional timing of relieving <strong>Rod Barnes</strong> of his duties 5 days before the conference tournament.</p>
<p>She detailed the plan, which is already underway, to utilize the Parker Executive Search Firm to provide a list of candidates, have interviews completed and a new coach in place by April 4th.</p>
<p>Levick also mentioned that the school has already been contact by interested coaching candidates and received referrals for the opening.</p>
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<p>“We have a lot of exciting things happening on campus,” Levick said. “I want the new coach of our men’s basketball program to catch that excitement.”</p>
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<p>The momentum created by football has somewhat stalled with Men’s Basketball finishing the regular season at 11-18 overall and the Women’s Basketball team which sits at 11-17 heading into tomorrow night’s regular season finale.</p>
<p>The question that remains is what direction will <span class="caps">GSU</span> go for a head man. I believe it will be a former Division 1 head coach or a high major assistant coach from a <span class="caps">NCAA</span> Tournament team.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-st-panthers/2011/3/1/2023990/georgia-state-mens-basketball-new-coach-by-final-fourBen Moore2011-02-27T22:43:54-05:002011-02-27T22:43:54-05:00Rod Barnes Fired As Georgia State Basketball Coach; Paul Graham Takes Over
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<p>Georgia State men's basketball coach Rod Barnes has been relieved of his duties effective immediately. Per a <a href="http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=12700&atclid=205105239">GSU Sports Release</a>, assistant coach Paul Graham will lead the team into the CAA Tournament beginning on Friday in Richmond, Virginia.</p>
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<p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">"After careful evaluation, we have made the decision to seek new leadership for our men's basketball program," said Georgia State Director of Athletic Cheryl Levick. "The win-loss record simply does not reflect where we want to be for Georgia State men's basketball. We felt it was in the best interest of the program to make this change now and begin moving forward immediately."</font></p>
<p><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">"I thank Coach Barnes for his service to Georgia State and our student-athletes and wish him success in his future endeavors," continued Levick.</font></p>
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<p>Barnes finished with a 44-79 record overall and 24-48 in CAA play. The program has not had a winning season since 2003-04 and just broke its four-year streak of losing 20 games per season. The basketball attendance had also slipped considerably as Georgia State finished last in the conference in home attendance with just over 900 fans per contest.</p>
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<p>Rod Barnes did graduate every senior, and cleaned up an <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2011/02/22/after-clean-up-rod-barnes-waits-for-payoff-at-georgia-state/?cxntfid=blogs_jeff_schultz_blog">embarassing academic record</a>. A national search for a replacement will begin immediately.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2011/2/27/2330502/rod-barnes-fired-as-georgia-state-basketball-coach-paul-graham-takesBen Moore