ITTA BENA, Miss. — Mississippi Valley State University has named Lindsey Hunter as the 11th head men’s basketball coach in school history, Director of Athletics Dianthia Ford-Kee announced Saturday.
“I am elated to welcome Coach Lindsey Hunter and his family back to the Oasis of the Mississippi Delta and the SWAC,” said Ford-Kee. “I am excited about his energy, vision, and most importantly the impact he will have on our program.”
Hunter, who most recently served as an assistant coach on the University of Buffalo coaching staff during the 2016-17 season, will be formally introduced on May 1, 2019, with a news conference on the campus of MVSU.
“I look forward to Coach Hunter joining us here at MVSU,” said Dr. Jerryl Briggs, President, Mississippi Valley State University. “His wealth of experience as a player and coach is vital and will definitely assist the continued growth for our men’s basketball program. We are surely keeping Valley in Motion!”
Hunter spent 17 years in the NBA as a player and another two years as a coach in the league, including as interim head coach of the Phoenix Suns. In his only season on the UB coaching staff, the Bulls went 17-15 while earning the number three seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Hunter helped guide a pair of individual award winners as Dontay Caruthers was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year and Nick Perkins was named Sixth Man of the Year. Blake Hamilton was also named to the All-MAC Second Team and CJ Massinburg was an Honorable Mention selection.
Hunter was the 10th pick overall in the 1993 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons after concluding his college career at Jackson State University. Hunter played for Detroit from 1993-2000 before spending a year with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. He won his first NBA Title playing for the Lakers in 2001-02.
Hunter then played for the Toronto Raptors for a year before returning to the Pistons from 2003-08, winning his second NBA title in 2003-04. He concluded his playing career for the Chicago Bulls from 2008-10. He played in 937 games over his NBA career and 147 playoff games as he reached the postseason in 12 of his seasons. During his 17-year NBA career, Hunter recorded 7,956 points, 2,021 rebounds, and 2,506 assists.
In 2012, Hunter signed with the Phoenix Suns as an assistant coach for player development. After a coaching change during the 2012-13 season, Hunter was named interim head coach of the Suns for the remainder of the year, leading Phoenix for 41 games. He moved on to become an assistant for the Golden State Warriors during the 2013-14 season.
A native of Utica, MS., Hunter lettered three years at Jackson State University where he averaged 26.7 points per game as a senior and he was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year. He led Jackson State to an upset of UConn in the 1993 Postseason NIT. Hunter spent his freshman season at Alcorn State University where he was named the 1989 SWAC Freshman of the Year.
Hunter will take over an MVSU men’s basketball program with a rich history consisting of five NCAA Tournament appearances (1986, 1992, 1996, 2008, 2012).
Courtesy: MVSU Athletics
I just can’t Beleive it . Lindsey’s Alma Mater , our beloved Alma Mater let Him slip away . Why ? Did He apply for the HC job at J-State or not ? If so , what was the reason for not signing Him . Did J-State extend the present HC’s job or not ? If so , there’s no way Brent should be retained as J-State’s HC .The Job should have gone to Coach Thomas Billups (J-State Alum) no matter what anyone or body thinks about My thoughts ,Billups been at J-State for 5-6 years and has done nothing worth while and players have left because they didn’t want to play for Him . I went to only one home game last year (Texas Southern) And the Arena was you even half full .I haven’t been back since and want Go this year if Brent’s still HC .