Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
IUPUI Coach Ron Hunter this month has been selected to receive the annual Good Guy Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers
Association for his efforts to bring attention to the plight of millions of children around the world who are in need of shoes.
Hunter will be honored at the USBWA’s annual college basketball awards breakfast April 2 at The Columbia Club during
this year’s NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis.
At the breakfast, the USBWA will also present the Oscar Robertson Trophy to the national player of the year and the Henry
Iba Award to the coach of the year.
Hunter began an association in 2008 with the Samaritan’s Feet organization, whose mission is to provide shoes to needy
youth worldwide. Hunter gained national attention when he coached his IUPUI team that year in a game in bare feet.
College, as well as some professional and high school coaches, began to take up the cause and also decided to go barefoot
in games during the season.
The result was that nearly 1 million pairs of shoes were donated to children across the globe in two years. Hunter and his
basketball team personally delivered shoes to youth in Peru in 2008, and they plan to travel to South Africa this May to deliver
more.
He hopes to deliver around 1,000 pairs of shoes to Indiana youth before the Final Four.
Hunter has coached at IUPUI for 16 years and has over 250 career wins, the most in school history.
Previous Good Guy Award winners include Michigan State University’s Tom Izzo and retired coaches Gene Keady of Purdue
University and Tom Brennan of the University of Vermont.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.