North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Larry Hunter Back Where He Belongs
4/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 29, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - Larry Hunter is what he is: a head basketball coach.
In the final analysis, NC State was very lucky to have him around for four years. It should really come as no surprise then that Hunter accepted the head coaching position at Western Carolina when it was offered. It was just a matter of time before Herb Sendek's number one assistant would be back where he belonged, back on the front seat of the team bus. We are, after all, talking about a man who won more than 500 games in head coaching stints at Ohio and Wittenburg.
And while he thoroughly enjoyed his four-year stay with the Wolfpack, Hunter never lost that yearning to run his own program again. It ultimately came down to the right time and right place. When others approached, Hunter listened, but the situation was never right. So why was Western Carolina right? For one, Hunter and his wife Mary have developed a special fondness for North Carolina. No. 2, the Western Carolina program will offer up the type of tough challenge upon which Hunter thrives.
His predecessor at WCU, Steve Shurina, was reassigned to another position on April 14 after posting a five-year record of 48 and 97.
Yes, it's a difficult task, but Hunter may in fact be exactly what the Catamounts need. Behind Hunter's almost professorial appearance is a vicious competitor who is energized by a rugged challenge. One needs only to play 18 holes of golf with him to witness his competitive disposition.
The most important thing Sendek did in 2001 was to sign Julius Hodge, Ilian Evtimov, Jordan Collins, Levi Watkins and Josh Powell. It was that vital freshman class that helped to make NC State a regular participant in the NCAA Tournament once again.
The other key move Sendek made in 2001 was to consider the idea of committing his program to an offensive system that was initially developed by Pete Carril at Princeton. Then, later that spring, Sendek hired Hunter, a former coaching rival who had been fired at Ohio. The timing of Hunter's arrival in Raleigh and eventual implementation of the Princeton system led to speculation that it was Hunter who brought the offense with him to Raleigh, something that was always somewhat of a myth. In actuality, Hunter put Sendek in touch with Princeton offensive guru Jim Burson after Sendek had expressed an interest in learning more about the schemes that seemed to consistently produce layups off of backdoor cuts and open looks from the 3-point arc.
Since that time, Sendek has taken what was once known as the Princeton offense and created a hybrid system which is more compatible to ACC-level personnel. It's a style that has helped to produce four NCAA consecutive bids and an average of 20 wins per season.
Along the way, Hunter has played the role of trusty assistant coach very well, a role that took some getting used to. As much as anything else, he became a strong ally and sounding board for Sendek during a period when the Wolfpack program was making positive strides.
From an Xs and Os standpoint, Sendek credits Hunter for coordinating a 2-3 match-up zone defense that became a major weapon on those occasions when the Wolfpack needed to show a different look and keep its opponents off balance. It was that same zone that stymied Connecticut in the second half of the Pack's huge NCAA Tournament upset over the 2004 national champs last month.
Just as he adjusted to being an assistant coach, Hunter is about to go through another adjustment period as he takes over a program that won't be able to attract the type of skilled, athletic players he's been coaching at NC State. It's all relative of course. The competition level in the Southern Conference won't be the same either.
With a strong nucleus of players returning and an impressive recruiting class on the way, there's every reason to believe that Sendek's Wolfpack program will continue to flourish. Now much more stable and established than in 2001, the program is bigger than any one assistant coach, therefore, the impact of Hunter's departure at this time will likely be minimal. The Pack is now at a stage where it expects to compete with the best teams in the country (nine wins over top 10 teams the last four years), go to the NCAA Tournament every year, while also continuing to send a high percentage of its players out the door with degrees in hand (all four of this year's seniors will graduate, three this spring). And yes, winning a championship is also on that list of expectations.
NC State expects to do all of those things and more, just as Larry Hunter expects to be a head coach.
He is what he is.
