Saturday is important to Ron Hunter.
Not only will his Georgia State men’s basketball team attempt to win its ninth consecutive game, when it hosts Arkansas-Little Rock at 2:30 p.m. in a battle of the Sun Belt’s top two teams, but Hunter will coach in his bare feet.
This will be the seventh year, and the third since joining Georgia State, that Hunter will walk the sidelines without socks or shoes to help raise awareness of the need for those items in impoverished areas around the world. Coaching barefoot was an idea started by the charity Samaritan’s Feet. Hunter began doing it annually in 2008.
“It’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about the children we will be able to help.”
As he has six times since 2008, Hunter will take a trip this summer to an impoverished country to help Samaritan’s Feet distribute shoes to children. He didn’t go on a trip last year because of mental fatigue, so he plans to take two trips this summer.
Hunter, his staff and his team plan to go to a Central American country Aug. 7-15. They will join Samaritan’s Feet representatives in giving out shoes in at least four cities. They also hope to play at least four basketball games, which will be a first on one of these trips.
Hunter and his family, which includes R.J. Hunter, who made the game-winning shot in Thursday’s 73-72 victory over Arkansas State, also plan to take a trip to Africa to accompany Samaritan’s Feet representatives.
Since joining Georgia State, Ron Hunter traveled to Nigeria in 2011, and he and the team went to South Africa in 2012.
“It’s something we enjoy doing — giving back — and is a part of our life,” Hunter said.
R.J. Hunter said the game and the efforts are so important to him that he participated in last year’s game despite an injured foot.
Georgia State women’s basketball coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener also will coach barefoot in her team’s game at noon Saturday against Arkansas-Little Rock.
As for the men’s game, the Panthers (11-6, 4-0 Sun Belt) must figure out a way to slow Will Neighbour of Arkansas-Little Rock’s (9-8, 4-1). The 6-foot-10 center has averaged 17.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and likely will look forward to this game after watching film of Arkansas State’s Kirk Van Slyke go 22 for points and 10 rebounds against the Panthers.
A Georgia State victory would produce the second-longest streak in school history and would improve the Panthers’ chances at securing one of the top two seeds in the Sun Belt men’s basketball tournament.They would be two games ahead in the loss column of the conference’s second-place team, with 13 games to play. They have six games remaining at home, where the Panthers are unbeaten this season (6-0).
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