|
 Larry
Hunter, former North Carolina State associate head
coach and one of the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) leaders in coaching victories,
has been named Western Carolina University's 17th
head men's basketball coach all time, WCU athletics
director Chip Smith announced Friday afternoon.
Hunter, whose teams posted winning records in 23 of
his 25 seasons as a head coach, boasts an overall
record of 509-224 and currently ranks as the 14th
winningest active coach in the country. He
additionally ranks 59th on the NCAA Division I
all-time head coaching victories list and is tied
for 104th on the NCAA all-division list for head
coaching victories. During his time as a head coach,
Hunter made 11 overall NCAA tournament appearances,
while making seven as an assistant coach.
"I am very excited to have the opportunity to serve
as head basketball coach at Western Carolina
University," Hunter said. "My background gives me
familiarity with a program like Western Carolina and
a league like the Southern Conference. For that
reason, I feel the University and I are a good match
for each other. I look forward to the challenges of
building a championship program."
Hunter comes to Western Carolina after four years as
an assistant coach at North Carolina State, the
final three serving as associate head coach. In his
first season at N.C. State (2002), the Wolfpack
reached the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
championship game and received their first NCAA
Championship bid since 1991. N.C. State would go on
to reach at least the ACC Tournament semifinals in
each the last three years as well as receiving bids
to the NCAA Championship. In 2004, Hunter coached
Julius Hodge, who was tabbed ACC Player of the Year
and consensus All-America. This past season, the
Wolfpack made an impressive run at season's end and
defeated defending NCAA Champion Connecticut to
reach the Sweet 16. N.C. State was just one of 21
teams in the nation to play in the NCAA Championship
in each of the last four years.
"Throughout this process, we were looking for
someone with solid coaching experience, a proven
recruiter and a person who could understand and
promote the values of the University," Smith said.
"Larry Hunter has all of these qualities, in
addition to being a winner throughout his career. He
is highly respected among his peers, both as a coach
and as a person. I have no doubt he will continue to
be successful at Western Carolina University."
Hunter spent 12 years (1989-2001) as head coach at
Ohio University prior to his stint in Raleigh. Five
years after taking over the Bobcat basketball
program (1993-94), he led Ohio to a 25-8 record and
was tabbed the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Coach
of the Year, winning both the league's regular
season and tournament titles. The following year,
the Bobcats won the preseason National Invitation
Tournament (NIT), went 24-10 and reached the second
round of the postseason NIT. At Ohio, he coached 16
All-MAC performers and four first-team Academic
All-MAC selections. Among those standout players
were Player of the Year honorees Dave Jamerson
(1990), Gary Trent (1993, `94 and `95) and Brandon
Hunter (2003). Trent additionally earned MAC
Freshman of the Year honors in 1993, duplicating the
feat of Rush Floyd in 1991 during his freshman
campaign with the Bobcats.
Jamerson set a MAC record with 874 points in 1990
while taking home first team Academic All-America
honors that season. Later in 1990, Jamerson was an
National Basketball Association (NBA) first round
selection (15th pick overall) by Miami. Trent, a
third team Associated Press All-America in 1995,
would leave Ohio after his junior season to become a
NBA first round selection (11th overall pick) of the
Milwaukee Bucks. Brandon Hunter also moved on to
play professionally, being an NBA second-round pick
in 2003 and currently playing for the Orlando Magic.
Jamerson (third with 2,336), Trent (seventh with
2,108) and Brandon Hunter (11th with 2,012) all rank
among the MAC's top 11 in scoring, while Brandon
Hunter and Trent rank fifth (1,103) and ninth
(1,050), respectively, on the MAC's career
rebounding list.
Thirty of the 38 players he coached at Ohio who
completed their eligibility there graduated,
including 12 who went on to earn their Master's
degrees, posting an overall graduation rate as a
head coach of 85 percent. In his last season at
Ohio, the Bobcats were 19-11, with a 12-6 mark in
MAC competition, and his overall record with the
Bobcats was 204-148.
After winning his 500th career game as a collegiate
head coach (Jan. 23, 2001), Hunter said, "My
approach has been simple: Arrive early, work late
and chop wood all day long. I've been fortunate to
be surrounded by some great people and I've worked
at two great institutions, Wittenberg and Ohio. Add
all those things together over 20 years and you
start to have a small pile of wood."
From 1976-89, Hunter was the head coach at
Wittenberg University, playing a key role in the
school being the winningest NCAA Division III
basketball program in terms of victories and
percentage. Hunter made an immediate impact after
taking over the helm, winning National Association
of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Coach of the
Year honors in 1977 after becoming the first coach
in NCAA history to win a national championship in
his first season at a school. During his 13 years in
that position, his team turned in a 305-76 record
and made four NCAA Division III Final Four
appearances (national title in 1977, national
runner-up in 1983 and third place in 1980 and 1987).
He coached three national players of the year at
Wittenberg, including Tyrone Curtis (1981), Tim
Casey (1985) and Brad Baldridge (1991), as well as
having 21 all-conference honors bestowed upon his
players. In addition to coaching those national
players of the year, four of Wittenberg's top five
career scorers were coached by Hunter, including the
school's all-time leader Steve Iannarino (1,973).
Hunter won a total of 12 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)
titles, six regular-season championships and six
tournament championships. For his success, Hunter
was inducted into the Wittenberg University Hall of
Honor in 1996 and received the school's Honorary
Alumnus Award in 1997.
Hunter, who got his start in coaching as an
assistant coach at Marietta College from 1971-73,
graduated from Ohio in 1971 with a B.S. in
Education, majoring Social Studies Comprehensive. He
earned his Master of Science in Physical Education
from Ohio in 1973, then spent three seasons
(1973-76) as an assistant coach at Wittenberg. He
got his first taste of postseason play while serving
on the Wittenberg staff, reaching the NCAA Division
III championship game in 1976.
In addition to his coaching resume, Hunter produced
a basketball instructional video, "Drills, Skills
and Moves: Post Play Moves & Drills."
Hunter is married to the former Mary Kay Friedrich
of London, Ohio. |
