Awards

IUPUI Athletics Hall of Fame - 2019

IU Foundation President's Medallion - 2008

About Ronald E. Hunter

Ron Hunter, who guided the IUPUI basketball program from 1994-2011, remains the program's all-time leader in wins (275), winning percentage (.557), games coached (494), winning seasons (11) and 20-win seasons (4). He was at the helm of the IUPUI program during the elevation from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I status prior to the 1998-99 season. He guided IUPUI to its only ever NCAA Division I NCAA Tournament appearance in 2003, leading the Jaguars to a 20-14 mark while winning the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Led by future NBAer George Hill, Hunter's 2007-08 team won a school record 26 games and registered a final RPI of No. 72. Two years later, his team went 25-11 and collected the program's first-ever Division I postseason win, winning on the road in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational. He was a two-time league Coach of the Year and was largely the face of the program throughout his tenure.

Hunter earned national acclaim for his work with Samaritan's Feet as the first in the country to coach a game in his bare feet in January 2008 to raise awareness for those in need. He later personally delivered shoes to individuals in Peru and Costa Rica. He collected numerous honors for his philanthropic work including being named a 2008 ABC News Person of the Year, the 2010 Indiana Pathfinder Award recipient, an NABC Guardians of the Game Pillar Award for Service and awards from National Consortium for Academics and Sport, Center for Leadership Development, Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Public Schools, Indiana Commission on Social Status and the IU Foundation. Since leaving IUPUI, he has gone on to become Georgia State's career wins leader while taking the Panthers to multiple NCAA Tournaments.