Ron Hunter leaving Georgia State for Tulane
ATLANTA - After eight seasons leading the Panthers, Ron Hunter is leaving Georgia State men's basketball. The coach confirmed to FOX 5 on Sunday he is taking the head coaching position at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Hunter led Georgia State to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons, getting eliminated in the opening round of this year's competition on Friday by third-seed Houston. Hunter also took the team to the tournament in 2015, where his son RJ Hunter's late-game shot propelled the Panthers to a memorable upset of Baylor.
"Eight years ago I walked into a program that had 8 or 9 straight losing seasons," said Hunter on Friday night after his team was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament. "Now these guys have been to the Tournament 3 out of 5 years. We talked about making this a national program, we think we are a national program. I can't tell you how proud I am of these young men."
Hunter told FOX 5 on Saturday that he was still deciding on his future, and would spend the night talking to family members about what to do next. There were many reports over the weekend that he was Tulane's top choice to take over their basketball program which went 4-27 this past season, and 0-18 in the American Athletic Conference.
Hunter is the all-time leader in coaching wins at Georgia State, and also at his previous coaching stop, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis -- better known as IUPUI.