Hunter’s Green Wave has ‘something to prove’

NEW ORLEANS – First-year Tulane men’s basketball coach Ron Hunter isn’t the only new face inside the Green Wave locker room.

“I’ve never had an opportunity where I’m coaching an entirely different team,” Hunter said Tuesday at the Greater New Orleans Quarterback Club presented by Home Bank at Rock ‘n’ Bowl.

Of the 15 players on the Tulane roster, 13 are new.

“We feel like we’ve got something to prove with this group,” Hunter said. “We’re gonna win some games and have some fun doing it.”

Hunter came to Tulane from Georgia State, two schools located in major Southern metropolitan markets.

“There’s a lot of similarities” between New Orleans and Atlanta, Hunter said. “I think this is the better job by far. I think the timing is right.”

Part of being successful at Tulane is being able to recruit.

“We have to keep some of the talent in this town and this state at Tulane,” Hunter said. “That’s extremely important.”

Asked about the new law signed in California on Monday that can allow student-athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness, Hunter said there is likely more to come.

“There’s gonna be a change,” he said. “The NCAA is going to have to change. They’re going to allow high school players to go back to the NBA.

“I just don’t think it’s going to be a major problem. A lot of things are going to happen before that law goes into effect.”

Tulane began preseason practice this week and will face Spring Hill in an exhibition Uptown on Oct. 31.