For Georgia State hoops, it was a happy and shoeless night
The corner of Decatur and Collins, 11:31 a.m. Thursday. (Photo by M. Bradley)
It was a big night for Georgia State basketball, a program that hasn’t known many big nights. The coach went shoeless. His team wore orange. There was a grass-roots attempt to pack the GSU Sports Arena, which even the showman Lefty Driesell couldn’t do on a regular basis, and the result, if not quite a full house, was the fullest GSU had known since December 2008, when Florida State was the guest.
And halfway through, athletic director Cheryl Levick was ready to pull the plug — at least on the orange shirts. “There were so many distractions,” she said. “I wanted to say, ‘Get rid of those orange jerseys and get back in your white.’ ”
At halftime, see, Georgia State was tied with North Carolina Wilmington. With 10:14 left, the game was still even. Three minutes later, it wasn’t. The Panthers had surged ahead by 10 points and would win by 14, their 12th victory in the past 13 games. All this because of one woman’s faith in one coach.
“I believe in Ron Hunter,” Levick said. “I believe in that man. He’s a great fit for Georgia State.”
The crowd of 2,698 — capacity is 3,400 — shocked the team folks came to see. “The whole atmosphere in the gym was totally different,” said senior guard James Fields, who’s Georgia State’s captain and whom Hunter considers his most important player. “We’re used to it on the road; we’re not used to it at home … It gave me chills.”
For 30 minutes, it was possible to wonder if the boisterous gathering was going to undo the home side. Said Hunter: “These kids have never played before that big a crowd before.”
At halftime the coach had what he called “a come-to-Jesus moment” with his captain — “Though I think Jesus got in him more than me,” Hunter said — and Fields responded with 16 second-half points. At the end the throng was roaring for the Panthers, one of those clip-and-save moments in Georgia State athletic annals.
“This is a new culture for them,” Levick said, meaning the 1,611 students in attendance. “To get here and stand the whole game and scream and support the team. This is exactly what I wanted for them.”
Even those among us who believed Hunter was a good hire couldn’t have known something so good would happen so fast. “As new as it is for Georgia State,” Hunter said, “it’s new for me also. It’s humbling. I was walking across campus today, and the energy was unbelievable … We’ve given the institution an electric shock.”
Driving on Decatur Street before noon Thursday, a jaded correspondent saw something new: A handful of tents pitched outside the Sports Arena, temporary housing for folks who wanted prime position to watch the Panthers play. (A handmade sign read, “Welcome to Hunterville.”) For more than 50 years it has been possible to live in Atlanta and pay no attention to GSU basketball. Ten months on the job, Hunter has taken this city by the lapels and is shaking us for all he’s worth.
Afterward the man himself seemed almost shaken. He went without footwear and his team wore orange to promote the charity Samaritan’s Feet, for which Hunter has become a primary spokesman. “This game was a little more emotional to me because I know what it means,” he said. “I did a terrible job coaching, probably the worst job I’ve done since I’ve been here.”
But it all worked out. His team’s defensive pressure — the Panthers scored 26 points off 18 Wilmington turnovers — kept the game close and then rendered it not close at all. Remember that Hunter is working mostly with players inherited from Rod Barnes, but you wouldn’t know it to watch them now.
Said Buzz Peterson, Wilmington’s coach: “Ron’s got these guys playing with a lot more confidence.”
Said Hunter: “I believed it could happen. I might not have been the first choice, but I believe I was the right choice.”
Levick was standing nearby. Someone asked if Hunter had indeed been her first choice. “Yes,” she said, and how can you not be swayed by a guy big enough to make a shocking admission?
“I’m a man’s man,” Hunter said of his preparation for this shoeless night, “but I got a pedicure. And it felt good.”
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97 comments Add your comment
Sargent Carter
January 13th, 2012
4:57 am
Sorry if I am meany, Todd, you slut, bring us a national championship, and nothing less…and don’t be jealous of Ron Hunter, the coach of the year..
todd grantham
January 13th, 2012
5:26 am
take it easy Vince.
todd grantham
January 13th, 2012
5:27 am
that crummy text at 11:55 was written by a false todd grantham.
Buzz2011
January 13th, 2012
5:59 am
Bradley is picking UGA men’s basketball team to win the SEC and then on to the final four! How much does UGA pay Bradley?>
marcus
January 13th, 2012
6:39 am
saw the game on cable and was really excited about the size of the crowd. it’s good that gsu has finally gotten a coach! but his coaching style seems abrasive. he does too much ranting and raving even when the players make good plays. he should dial it back a bit. i especially like his involvement in the community service aspects. only good things could happen for the program, with the abundance of quality players in georgia, south carolina and florida, gsu’s recent success should only enhance them in the eyes of the aau programs. just dial it back a bit!
GSU
January 13th, 2012
6:55 am
in honor of the win over wilmington, I’m not wearing shoes at work today.
GSUAlumBaseball81
January 13th, 2012
7:10 am
Thanks Mark for the well deserved article. This team and Coach Hunter is the real deal and look for more of this from GSU in the future.GO GSU PANTHERS!!!
GSU
January 13th, 2012
7:50 am
This is good in that it takes away the news that our starting QB for the football team just quit.
GSU is in Atlanta
January 13th, 2012
8:23 am
@ GSU
Drew Little was not our starting QB and hadn’t played since the Murray State game.
blazerdawg
January 13th, 2012
8:29 am
Coach Hunter is the best thing to happen to basketball in Atlanta since Cremins and Nique. Do not EVER let this coach leave Georgia.
GSU
January 13th, 2012
8:41 am
@GSU is in Atlanta
Little started multiple games this season. Not sure what you’re talking about.
UGA fan
January 13th, 2012
8:48 am
Congratulation to Georgia State Panthers for winning the match up over the much better team UNCW Seahawks. UNCW basketball has much more resources than GSU , and has been popular on campus since the program moved to Division I in 1976-77. UNCW basket ball is well known in the triangle for making four appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2006.
gsu01
January 13th, 2012
9:04 am
@UGA fan – Not sure if you meant that UNCW was the better basketball team but if you did then GSU is by far the superior team. We were 13.5 favorites last night. We should have won that game by 25 and we would have if we hit our free throws. GSU would win that match-up easily 9 out of 10 times.
YoungSteve
January 13th, 2012
9:08 am
UNCW? Is that like the North Carolina Tarheels women’s team? I just looked up Georgia State’s strength of schedule- #337 in D1 out of 345 teams. Ouch.
North Carolina Transplant
January 13th, 2012
9:16 am
Absolutely incorrect , UNCW refers to http://www.uncwsports.com/
Dawgington
January 13th, 2012
9:19 am
You are still State…
gsu01
January 13th, 2012
9:25 am
@Dawgington – and you still have the most overhyped and most mediocre football program in the country. MSU, UCF, Colorado, Boise all own you!!!!
GSU 101!
January 13th, 2012
9:35 am
Gotta love it!
Dawgington
January 13th, 2012
9:38 am
Your football program shouldn’t exist.
Dawgington
January 13th, 2012
9:40 am
St. Francis and West Alabama? They don’t even have a link on ESPN and they beat you. ESPN doesn’t even track those teams. Enjoy beating up on Atlanta Clark every year, posers.
DawgNation
January 13th, 2012
9:43 am
Georgia State fans trying to talk football smack to us? You lost to St. Francis and Lambuth. Who???
Stateside
January 13th, 2012
9:55 am
Nice read on a great story we have going on here at GSU. Let’s keep it up, team…and fans!
GStateAlum11
January 13th, 2012
9:57 am
So proud of my alma mater. Keep it up Panthers! How cute, the mutts are so depressed about their bball team and yet anther mediocre football season that they have to come over here and troll on our sports blog to soothe the pain! HAHA! Excuse me but NO ONE even remembers the last time UGA’s bball team had a 12 game winning streak. man, that’s just funny…And yes we are still STATE. Go GSU!
GStateAlum11
January 13th, 2012
10:04 am
oops, I meant 11 game winning streak. but even still.
Dawgington
January 13th, 2012
10:05 am
Ohhhh boy…12 game streak… time to turn out the lights and close the shop!
“Welcome to Georgia State, where we had a 12 game winning streak in BB, just don’t ask about anything else we do.”
Dawgington
January 13th, 2012
10:13 am
10 wins is mediocre? Coming from a 3 win team.
PiAlpha92
January 13th, 2012
10:23 am
These comments from UGA and Tech fans show the current state of sports in Georgia. GSU is on top followed by Mercer and then the second tier basketball teams. GSU made a great hire while Tech didn’t. As for Fox, you lost to Brian Gregory and one of Glen Rice’s multiple personalities. Enough said
gsu01
January 13th, 2012
10:29 am
UGA really does have one pathetic fan base. You are mocking a football program that has been around for two years? Really? You come on here trying to mock a good story about our school and you expect us not to respond. Go screw yourself.
Dawgington
January 13th, 2012
10:36 am
Story is forgotten before you know it… then its back to reality… you are still State.
gsu01
January 13th, 2012
10:42 am
And you are still the Michigan State of the SEC. Oh wait….
Dawgington
January 13th, 2012
10:43 am
Thats cute!
Dawgington
January 13th, 2012
10:47 am
Lambuth?
Dave
January 13th, 2012
10:50 am
Way to toss Rod Barnes under the bus there.
Fred
January 13th, 2012
10:52 am
Don’t worry GSU fans, very few Dawg fans are asshats like Dawgington. Actually he’s an embarrassment to us real fans.
Congrats on the way your BB season is going so far and hope it continues. Nice to see it start to build back up after Lefty left, (no pun intended).
DawgNation
January 13th, 2012
10:54 am
It’s the south. We play football here.
Dawgington
January 13th, 2012
11:09 am
DawgNation speaks the truth.
Adam Banks
January 13th, 2012
11:23 am
Ron Hunter is the truth, gotta give props to the best team in the state!
lol @ Dawginton
Sam
January 13th, 2012
11:42 am
Great for GSU! With Georgia Tech in a rebuilding year (literally), it’s probably the best chance GSU will get for a long time to really bring in some fans (not that they take Tech alumni, but unaffiliated fans who want to see good college basketball, not just when acc teams come to town).
GStateAlum11
January 13th, 2012
11:50 am
DawgNation and Dawgington:
That’s exactly what we all would expect a pompous redneck mutt fan to say. Hey. was it really worth it to you inbreds to come over here and tear on a great win from a decent bball team in your own state on a night that was dedicated to promoting a charity and somehow make it a conversation about a football season that has now come and gone? i hope it was, because we’re all laughing at you.
incredible…and thanks, Fred.
GStateAlum11
January 13th, 2012
12:31 pm
oh mutts, is it really worth it to you to come onto this blog and tear up on a decent bball team in your own state about a great win that was promoting a charity and somehow making the conversation about a football season that has now come and gone? I hope so, because we are all laughing at you.
and thank you Fred.
Panther
January 13th, 2012
1:01 pm
You know we’re getting attention when UGA fans feel threatened by us…
Dan Tanner
January 13th, 2012
1:03 pm
1. Does Mr. Grantham have *nothing* better to do? Dude, really?
2. No disrespect to a GREAT resurgence for GSU hoops, which is a wonderful story, but THE BEST TEAM in the State of Georgia is the EMORY Men’s Basketball team. Ranked #4 in the country, they are 12-0 and should not be missed. You saw it here first.
Joe
January 13th, 2012
1:15 pm
todd grantham … you are obviously the one bored ………….YOU MORON. You’re mommy’s calling you.
GSU_ALUM
January 13th, 2012
5:43 pm
Proud of my panthers!
WE ARE GSU!
I’m from “State” and PROUD OF IT!
230gr Full Metal Jacket
January 13th, 2012
6:03 pm
Ignore the Dawgtrolls on here guys. None of them have ever even been on a college campus except to go to get drunk and go to a game. And most of the rednecks are too scared to actually come into “The Big City” anyway, lol. Techies have been dealing with this garbage for decades. As the GSU programs develop (which they are doing quite nicely, I might add!) you’ll encounter more and more of this from the inbred trailer-dwellers! Consider it a compliment!!!!
You see a man/woman in a Georgia State hat — They went to GSU.
You see a man/woman in a UGA hat — They went to Wal-Mart!!!!
English
January 13th, 2012
8:09 pm
@ 230gr Full Metal Jacket
“You see a man/woman in a Georgia State hat — They went to GSU.
You see a man/woman in a UGA hat — They went to Wal-Mart!!!!”
This may be the funniest thing I’ve read in a long time. Thank you Full Metal Jacket!
Coach Ron Hunter a Good Man for Georgia State « The Squad Blog
January 13th, 2012
8:36 pm
[...] People were impassioned about the coach – so humble that he’d coach in bare feet to raise awareness for a cause a world away. People were impassioned to watch the Panthers – their Panthers – take on a rival. People came out, braving traffic and vagrants and a MARTA station that always smelled to me of urine to watch a basketball game about a block down from the state capitol. It was televised. They talked about it on the news and wrote about it in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [...]