Georgia State men’s basketball coach Ron Hunter has a few requirements for his next two assistants:
- At least one needs to know high schools in Atlanta and Georgia.
- They need to come from winning programs.
- They need to be of good character.
- They need to play golf badly because they can't beat him.
Hunter lost assistants Everick Sullivan, who accepted the head coaching job at Lenoir-Rhyne, and Darryl LaBarrie, who accepted an assistant job at Georgia Tech on Monday.
“I’m sad losing two really good friends, but excited to get fresh ideas,” Hunter said. He declined to say who he was interviewing.
Hunter said he hopes to reach agreements with the two new assistants by next Tuesday.
Claude Pardue, the remaining assistant, will receive a pay raise, according to Hunter, as long as he doesn’t beat him in golf on Friday.
“He will get downsized the other way,” Hunter joked.
Hunter said Pardue was the lead recruiter on D’Marcus Simonds, and he wants make sure that Pardue is rewarded for the job he has done the past few years.
Hunter said he has been preparing to lose assistants for at least two years, which is when the Panthers won the first of their back-to-back Sun Belt regular-season titles in 2014.
The new assistants don’t need to be versed in Hunter’s preferred ball-screen, motion offense or zone defenses. But at least one needs head-coaching experience, just as Sullivan had.
“The staff level will stay the same or get better, just like with recruiting,” Hunter said.
About the Author
