Even the coach’s beloved son — the son Ron Hunter was rushing to hug when he felt his Achilles pop after Georgia State won the Sun Belt championship to advance to the NCAA Tournament — has cut dear ol’ dad no slack. R.J. Hunter conceded Wednesday that his father’s famous injury has spawned “straight jokes” among Panthers.
“It’s funny trying to see him maneuver onto the bus and into restaurants and into his chair,” R.J. Hunter said, speaking at Georgia State’s media session here. “But I think he’s enjoying it. He’s getting a lot of publicity out of it. He’s probably got jokes for you, too.”
Well, yes. Said Ron Hunter: “You would think I would have a little more sympathy from my son with this, but he’s been wearing me out. I want him to come back and play for me next year, but with all the jokes, he can go ahead and leave now.”
R.J. Hunter is a junior who might be a Round 1 NBA draftee should he opt to leave after this season. Ron Hunter was asked if, as father and coach, he felt a conflict of interest. “There’s no conflict of interest,” Hunter said. “I’m his dad. I’m going to buy him a car, give him a lot of money, new clothes … I’ve already talked to the car dealer … I can illegally recruit somebody and get away with it, and that’s what I’m going to do with this. My son has no idea.”
Then: “The key thing is I got his mom such a nice gift — she doesn’t know about it — and he can’t say no to mom. Mom is going to get something really special so she can be on my side and we can sweet-talk him into coming back one more year.”
Moments earlier, R.J. Hunter — presumably unaware of his father’s plans — sought to table any NBA talk. “I’m putting that off right now,” he said. “I’m really just focused about Baylor (Georgia State’s round of 64 opponent). If get wrapped up in that, my mind will be everywhere else. It’s a lot to think about, a lot to sit down and talk about, but I’ll worry about that when the time is right.”
Should the Panthers lose Thursday, it might well be the Hunters’ final game as coach/player. “The highlight of my life is coaching my kid,” Ron Hunter said. Then: “That’s why I want to appreciate this. His first college game was against Duke. He got the layup and scored the first points, but everything after that has been a blur to me.”
Then: “I can’t wait to go back and celebrate as a dad. When you are the head coach of a program, it’s hard to say, ‘That’s my kid.’ I’ve never been able to thump my chest and say, ‘That’s my son.’ I’m really, really proud of him. I love him. This has been the best experience — that I can share this with him because this was a goal of ours.”
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