This story appears in FCA Magazine’s March/April 2016 issue. Subscribe today!

Born: April 7, 1964
Hometown: Dayton, Ohio
Family: Wife – Amy Children – Jasmine, R.J.
College: Miami (Ohio)
Head Coaching Career:
• IUPUI (1994–2011)
• Georgia State (2011–present)
Note:
• On Jan. 24, 2008, Hunter coached IUPUI in his bare feet to help raise awareness for Samaritan’s Feet, an organization that collects shoes for underprivileged children around the world. Hunter’s efforts have helped garner more than 1 million pairs of shoes to date.

“… Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.” – Luke 12:48

My mom put me in Catholic school in third grade, and I think it was to introduce a little more discipline into my life and point me in the right direction.

I’m still reaping the benefits of that decision years later. It was there—in my religion classes—that I developed a solid biblical foundation in my life. It was also there that I learned the game of basketball from my first-ever coaches—a priest and a nun.

I was surrounded by religion all my childhood, so it caught me by surprise when I went to play basketball at Miami (Ohio) University and realized that not everyone believed the same things I did. It was an eye-opening experience, but the final result was a huge growing period for me in my walk with Christ. Away from home for the first time, I learned more about myself and what I believed. I grew in my faith, building upon the strong foundation of my childhood.

My life’s trajectory hinged upon a conversation I had with my coach during my junior year at Miami. He asked if I’d ever considered coaching, and I can still remember going back to my dorm that night and watching John Thompson coach the Georgetown Hoyas on TV and thinking, “That’s something I would love to do.” I was so intrigued by the possibility that throughout my senior year, I thought more about the coaching part of the game than the playing part.

I jumped right into coaching the following year as a graduate assistant. I served as an assistant for six years at two different schools before accepting my first head coaching job at IUPUI.

I was just 30 years old.

It was a blessing to be a head coach so soon, but it was also a very difficult adjustment going from the court to the bench. When you’ve played all your life, you want everyone to do exactly what you did. But it just doesn’t work like that. Every player has their own unique style, and it’s your job as a coach to work with all those styles and personalities and develop the strongest team possible. It took some time (I’m now in my 28th season as a coach), and I’m still learning how to best teach the game and help in the development of young people.

Despite getting involved with coaching at a relatively young age, it wasn’t until years later that I really understood how it was God’s calling for my life. In the beginning, I was following the same path as every other coach—try to rack up as many wins as possible, get to Final Fours and move up the ladder. My faith took a backseat. Other things, like coaching and raising my family, were the priorities.

But in 2007, a friend approached me about the Samaritan’s Feet ministry, and I’m so grateful for that because it helped change my life and my career. I had the opportunity to go to Africa and see children who had nothing, not even shoes on their feet, and I broke down. I realized how selfish I had been in pursuing my coaching goals and aspirations above all else. The trip put everything in perspective, and suddenly I realized how empty all those goals really were.

Soon, through ministry and serving others, the Lord showed me I had a platform to make a difference in people’s lives, both those children in Africa and the young men He’d entrusted me with as a coach. Since then, everything has changed.

My title may say “coach,” but I know that means I’m also a father (I was fortunate enough to coach my son, R.J., for three seasons), counselor, pastor and so many other things that these young men need me to be on a daily basis. For many of the young men in our program, I might be their first exposure to the message of Christ. My responsibilities as a coach are much broader than just going out and winning some games.

I’m closer to God now than I have ever been. He has given me a purpose in my life and career to share Christ and bring people closer to Him through the sport of basketball. And that’s the message I share with my players and everyone I come in contact with—find your purpose. 

-FCA-

–This article appears in the March/April 2016 issue of FCA Magazine. To view the issue digitally, click here: March/April 2016 FCA Magazine Digital

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Photos courtesy of Georgia State Athletics