On Sunday, Georgia State coach Ron Hunter tore his Achilles celebrating the Panthers’ Sun Belt conference tournament victory, and the automatic NCAA Tournament bid that came with it. He’ll coach hurt Thursday afternoon in Jacksonville, Fla., against Baylor.
Two weeks before, I ruptured my Achilles and was sentenced to a long stay in a knee-high cast after surgery. He’s not going anywhere for some time now.
As the Panthers took a bus trip south Tuesday, two lame guys conversed and commiserated, before what is certain to be the most unorthodox challenge facing a coach in this year’s tourney.
Steve: I did mine playing in my final pickup basketball game ever. At least you were celebrating a watershed victory.
Ron: It has been worth it not only for my team, but for the university. The people on campus are proud; the alumni are proud; it's great for the city of Atlanta in terms of the attention it has brought to our program. If we can do all that and the one negative is the coach tore his Achilles, I'll take that.
Steve: Now, to make things fair, should Baylor’s Scott Drew have to coach with one leg tied behind his back?
Ron: No. It would be fairer if they took their top five players and didn't let them play. Scott can't make baskets, but he's got some good players who can.
Steve: You know whether you have surgery or not, you won’t be right a long time. I have to miss covering the Masters this year, and that’s eating me up. What are you going to be missing when the season’s finished?
Ron: The one thing that has saddened me more than anything is that right after the season is done, I usually spend two or three weeks golfing. I love to golf, and when they told me I wouldn't be able to do that, that was a bummer for me.
Steve: Everyday chores are tough enough with this. You break out in a sweat just brushing your teeth. How are you going to manage coaching?
Ron: I'm not sure. You take things for granted. Packing for a road trip, that's so easy for me to do. (This time) it was the hardest thing. I was sweating; I felt like I had worked out for three hours. And I'm only taking one shoe instead of two shoes, just one sock instead of a pair of socks. It was a headache.
When I get to the arena tomorrow, I’m going to see how much depth, how much room I have on the sideline and that’s going to determine if I use the scooter (a four-wheel, self-propelled contraption, upon which he props his injured leg). Or do I just use a stool?
Steve: You are a renowned sideline stomper, even fracturing a foot once while driving home a point. Do you have a designated stomper for this game?
Ron: I've already told (GSU assistant) coach (Darryl) LaBarrie that he's going to have to be the one who does my stomping and my moving.
My players, especially my seniors, are used to me coaching a certain way. I want to make sure I get as close to them as possible. I want to keep it as normal as possible for them.
Steve: Baylor’s depth is nothing compared to the challenge of the three-foot step up. I have come to hate steps with a white-hot passion.
Ron: I've got a home that there are steps everywhere. I have to crawl like a baby up and down the steps. Even now, we're on the way to the hotel (in Jacksonville) and the only thing I can think about is how many steps there might be.
Getting on and off the bus was very difficult to do today. We stopped along the way to let the guys get off for a while, and I just stayed on because I didn’t want to deal with the steps on the bus.
Steve: A lot of people say a lot of nice things after an injury. What’s the best thing you’ve heard?
Ron: The best has been from Kevin Ware. When it all settled down and we were getting on the bus to Atlanta to come home (after the Sun Belt tournament), he said, "Coach, this really isn't that bad."
I can look in his eyes and know what he has gone through, and I thought that was great. (Ware shattered his leg during Louisville’s run to the 2013 championship). It almost cheered me up a little bit. I know how much this means to him. And how poetic — the injury he’s had regarding his leg and now he’s going to the NCAA Tournament and his coach has an injury to his leg.
Steve: This is supposed to be one of your most special times in coaching, between getting Georgia State back to the tournament and sharing that experience with son R.J. Has this injury dulled that experience at all?
Ron: I want to enjoy this with my son. I've been very unselfish in the sense that I have not had a lot of father-son moments with R.J. since he's been here. I've been his coach.
But our goal always was to be a father-son combo in the NCAA Tournament. We set that goal when he was in high school. Nothing is going to stop me from enjoying this with my son.
Steve: As a sage two-week veteran of the torn Achilles, the only advice I’ll give you is: Be sure to thank your wife for every little thing she does for you. For if she stops feeding you or getting you water, you’ll die.
Ron: I woke up today really feeling bad for her. She's already done so much, trying to get me places, trying to do these things. And she has to enjoy this, too. This is a family thing; her son is playing.
Steve: Now go win one for every older fool out there who should have known better than to attempt anything even mildly athletic.
