R. J. Hunter

Ronald Jordan Hunter (born October 24, 1993) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Tulane Green Wave. He played college basketball for the Georgia State Panthers under the direction of his father and Georgia State head coach, Ron Hunter, being named twice Sun Belt Player of the Year as well as the Sun Belt Conference Male Athlete of the Year. He holds the school record for most career points with a total of 1,819 after just three seasons of play.

High school career Hunter attended Pike High School in Indianapolis averaging 20.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.9 steals per game as a senior. That year he led Pike to the Indiana State Championships, ending as a runner-up, and in the process earned All-Marion County First Team, a conference player of the year award and an Indiana All-Star mention. He was also named the Men's Georgia College Player of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Junior season In his final season at GSU, Hunter averaged a career-high 19.7 points, scoring a school-record season total of 688 points (a school record he broke each season). He also averaged 4.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. In addition, he made 202 free-throws (No. 7 in the NCAA that year), second-most in school history, while swiping 75 steals, third-most in a single season in program history. The most noteworthy record he set was total career points. Midway through just his third season, Hunter overtook Rodney Hamilton's record of 1,515 points with a basket in front of a GSU home crowd against UL Lafayette on January 24, 2015. Hunter finished the year with a career total of 1,819 points.

The Panthers finished the 2014–15 season as the Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament champions. With their Sun Belt Tournament championship win over Georgia Southern, the Panthers received a bid to the NCAA tournament. In the round of 64, No. 14 seed Georgia State trailed the No. 3 seed Baylor by 12 points with just 2:53 to play. Hunter took over and scored 12 of the Panthers' final 13 points, including a 30-foot 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining to secure their electrifying come-from-behind upset win, which caused his coach (and father) Ron to fall off his stool in jubilation. The moment was selected as No. 2 in the NCAA's top 10 moments of the tournament, was included in the "One Shining Moment" montage following the championship game, and was one of three nominees for the 2015 Best Upset ESPY Award.

Hunter was again named both Sun Belt Conference Basketball Player of the Year and the Sun Belt Conference Male Athlete of the Year.

College statistics

College records All-time Georgia State University leader in points (1,819) All-time Georgia State University leader in free throws made (448), in free-throw percentage (.853), and in consecutive free throws made (38) All-time Georgia State University leader in 3-pointers made (253) Single-season Georgia State University leader in 3-pointers made (100, 2013–14) Single-season Georgia State University leader free-throw percentage (.882, 2013–14) Single-game Sun Belt Conference leader in 3-pointers made (12) Single-game Sun Belt Conference leader in free-throw percentage (1.000 16–16, 2015)

Professional career Boston Celtics (2015–2016) On June 25, 2015, Hunter was selected with the 28th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. On July 27, he signed his rookie-scale contract with the Celtics. After averaging just 2.8 points per game over his first eight NBA games, Hunter scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting off the bench against the Atlanta Hawks on November 24. During his rookie season, Hunter received multiple assignments to the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics' Development League affiliate. On October 24, 2016, Hunter was waived by the Celtics.

Chicago Bulls (2016) On October 27, 2016, Hunter signed with the Chicago Bulls. He was waived by the Bulls on December 29, 2016, after appearing in three games. During his time with Chicago, he had multiple assignments to the Windy City Bulls of the NBA Development League.

Long Island Nets (2017) On January 6, 2017, Hunter was acquired by the Long Island Nets of the NBA G-League. Four days later, he made his debut for Long Island in a 120–112 loss to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, recording 22 points, three assists and two steals in 25 minutes off the bench.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2017–2018) After failing to find a team to participate in training camp under the preseason, he would be assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League on October 24, 2017. Hunter made his debut with the team on November 4.

Erie BayHawks (2018–2019) On January 14, 2018, Hunter signed a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets. On August 18, 2018, Hunter was waived by the Rockets.

On September 7, 2018, Hunter signed with the Atlanta Hawks. On October 13, 2018, Hunter was waived by the Hawks. Hunter was added to the training camp roster of the Erie BayHawks. In his BayHawks debut, Hunter scored a game-high 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting in a win over the Grand Rapids Drive.

Return to Boston (2019) On January 10, 2019, Hunter signed a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics.

Türk Telekom (2019–2020) On June 27, 2019, Hunter signed with Türk Telekom of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL).

College Park Skyhawks (2020) On February 7, 2020, Hunter signed with College Park Skyhawks of the NBA G League (formerly D-League) and an affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. He missed a game against the Greensboro Swarm on February 28 with an illness.

Galatasaray (2020–2021) On July 21, 2020, Hunter signed with Galatasaray of the Turkish BSL.

Sydney Kings (2021–2022) On July 23, 2021, Hunter signed with the Sydney Kings of the Australian NBL for the 2021–22 season. On January 15, 2022, he was ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing his left patellar tendon. He was replaced on the roster.

Greensboro Swarm (2023–2024) On September 29, 2023, Hunter signed with the Charlotte Hornets, but was waived on October 21, prior to the start of the 2023–24 season. Eight days later, he signed with the Greensboro Swarm.

On October 15, 2024, Hunter retired from professional basketball.

Coaching career Tulane (2024–present) In October 2024, Hunter joined his father on the coaching staff at Tulane as a volunteer assistant coach.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life Hunter is the son of Ron Hunter and Amy Hunter, the youngest of two children. He and his older sister, Jasmine, are very close. Hunter's godfather is 15-year NBA veteran Ron Harper.