Video: Tulane introduces Ron Hunter as men’s basketball head coach

Transcript: Ron Hunter Introductory Press Conference

Ben Weiner Director of Athletics Chair Troy Dannen
“I do want to start by thanking everyone for coming. Great of you to all come and support Ron and Amy as we get started with their tenure today. I do want to start with a couple specific thank yous, and the first is to Amy Hunter. Because people don’t understand, this is a family move. This isn’t a move that Ron is making, this is a family move. I want to thank you for endorsing this and being willing to bring your family. I want to thank their children, their daughter Jasmine and their son R.J. because when I talk about it being a family move, I know in this case the family signed off on this. And there’s one person I’m going to thank who five years from now, she will look at this on a video and that’s their 1-year-old granddaughter Phoenix. Because while she doesn’t know what she just gave up, she gave up grandma and grandpa being home in Atlanta. She doesn’t know yet that I should be thanking her for that. But she’ll be thanking me in six years when she’s on her fourth Mardi Gras and she’s coming to New Orleans and thinking this is the greatest thing they’ve ever done. Also want to thank the Board of Tulane and Chair Doug Hertz, Chair of the Athletics Committee Jill Glazer. Since I got here, I’ve said this doesn’t work unless everyone is behind athletics. From top to bottom, the Tulane board since I got here has done nothing but support this program in every way they’ve ever been asked to support it. They deserve a great deal of credit and thanks for anything that’s ever happening positively, one on this campus but certainly in the athletic department. And then to President Fitts: I’ve got the best president in the world to work for. He’s allowed a very wide berth, and I said from day one when I asked him in the interview what do you want out of athletics, he said, ‘I want to win.’ Everything that’s happened since then has been with that philosophy in mind. But the best advice he ever gave me, and it played out in this search, he said, ‘Always hire ambition.’ And there’s no question we’ve hired ambition in this case.

“A little bit about the search process: When you start this search you ask yourself four or five questions to determine what kind of a job you have before you ever go out to the market. No. 1 is institutional alignment. Are we all in line? Talked about the board, talked about the president. Coach has already met the provost, he’s met the CFO, he’s met at least one of the deans, he’s met some of the faculty. There is alignment on this campus, up and down and all around to make sure athletics can be successful. That is No. 1. You can have the greatest coach, you can have the greatest players, you can have the greatest of everything, but institutional alignment is the key to success. And we’ve got it.

“Resources. Everybody thinks about money. That is a key resource. But people, energy, commitment, motivation, those are all resources that have to be present for anything good to happen. And those are present on this campus in every way shape and form and every respect.

“And then the school and the league. There is no university in the country that is hotter than Tulane right now. You’ve read about it, you’ve seen about it. Everything about Tulane is arcing to all-time highs. And our league obviously there’s a lot of news about our league out there, and probably some of that news will be formal in a few days. But there’s so many good things happening in our league. And so, if you look at our school and our league and the commitment and all those resources, we have a treasure of a job. I don’t care what the record was. I care what the record is going to be. We have a treasure of a job. Now when you have a treasure, your job is to find somebody that has the map to open that treasure, unleash that treasure, unlock that treasure. So, we went out looking for the guy who has the map. The first characteristic we thought we needed to have is somebody who had taken a program that was at the bottom and brought it up to the top. And maybe somebody who has taken a program from NAIA up to Division I and taken them to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the school’s history. Maybe someone who walked into a program that had 10 consecutive under-.500 seasons in Atlanta and taken them to six out of eight 20-win seasons and took them to three NCAA Tournaments and a couple NITs and became the talk of the city and the state and became the best program in the state. Maybe somebody like that would have the map to unlock what Tulane is. Ron Hunter is two for two in that. And then we needed someone whose passion and enthusiasm is electric and was going to ignite all of us. Ignite the guys, ignite the department, ignite the university, ignite this community and start a fire in people that don’t know they have a have a fire yet for Tulane. I’m about ready to get off the stage and you’re going to understand, I don’t even have to tell you. This guy is an igniter. He is a fire in and of himself. He brings an enthusiasm and energy and passion that we’re all going to appreciate and we’re all going to love. And then let’s find a coach whose expectations exceed our wildest dreams. His expectations are beyond our – I’ve heard so many times that Tulane’s expectations aren’t what they need to be. Our expectations are exactly what they need to be. Our results have not met them. He’s going to lead our results to our expectations. And maybe the most important, I wanted to find a man who was a great coach but a better man than he was a coach, a man who is a better father than he was a coach. And a man whose integrity and character were impeccable. And in this day and age in Division I college athletics, that’s not as important to everybody. But it’s doggone important to Tulane and it’s doggone important to me. And we found a man who is a great man, who is a great coach, a great father and a great person with a great reputation. A guy like Ron Hunter, that’s the guy.

“So, the search that started eight days ago pointed to him very, very quickly. After Georgia State was eliminated last Friday, we made arrangements, Rob [Bernardi] and I did, to fly to Atlanta to meet with Amy and Ron. We met with them Saturday night. I had offered him the job halfway through dinner. … We came back, negotiated the contract, and Sunday night we announced our coach. Today it’s a pleasure for me to introduce him.

“I go back to the first question that Coach asked me. He said, ‘My charity, Samaritan’s Feet, are you good with it? Would you support it?’ And I was kind of like apoplectic at the question, of course we would. What you don’t know about Tulane, coach, is that since Hurricane Katrina, Tulane has really defined itself by community service. Your charity is our charity. As I thought back on it, I realized how important it was for him to ask me that question right off the bat. Samaritan’s Feet was founded in 2003, and it was about creating hope for kids by giving them shoes. It sounds pretty doggone simple. They’ve given out 7 million pairs of shoes all across the world, all throughout the United States. And you talk about institutional alignment, there is nothing that aligns better with this institution than a man who has that passion in his background above and beyond and outside of the coaching. So, Coach, [unveils gift shoes] we wanted to get things off, if you will, on the right foot. This is a symbol of our partnership as we go forward, and we’re going to support you in every way including what’s important to you in your life in what is now our charity, Samaritan’s Feet.

Men’s Basketball Head Coach Ron Hunter

Opening statement:
“Well thank you. If I knew you felt that way about me, I would have asked for more money [laughs]. First of all, I am excited to be here, my wife and I. The last 14 days have been crazy since we were in New Orleans about a week and a half ago and won our conference tournament here and decided to drive back to Atlanta instead of flying because everyone was excited. We drove back, found out who we were playing in the NCAA Tournament, then the NCAA Tournament, then next thing you know I’m sitting back here in New Orleans. I’m going to keep this brief because I want to really get to these guys [points at Tulane men’s basketball players].

First of all, I had a great job, and I want to thank the people at Georgia State, I know some of them are watching this. Our president, Dr. Mark Becker, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity. I never take for granted the opportunity to be a head coach, and so I want to thank him for the opportunity. It was a great eight years, we won a lot of basketball games. My goal when I took the job is that I wanted to make it a better place, before and after I got there, and I think we were able to do that. So, I want to say thank you to all the community in Georgia State and the city of Atlanta. They really treated us beautifully.

“I started that to say this: We have been in the NCAA Tournament three of the last five years, we had a lot of success. My plan was to retire at Georgia State and be the basketball coach there. The last 4-5 years I’ve had multiple offers to leave. Atlanta was my home. We built a home, we knew we were having a granddaughter, my entire family now lives in Atlanta. So, it was going to take a lot for me to leave. I’ll be honest with you, this gentleman right here [points at Dannen], if it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if I’d do that. He blew me away, so I said yes. The funny part about that is I didn’t tell my wife about this job. Right before the NCAA Tournament, everyone’s excited, she’s having a glass of wine, we’re actually on a bus, we stopped off a place in Mississippi at a sports bar that I’ve never heard off in the side of a truck stop. We brought the team in and we’re watching the selection show. I pulled my wife to the side and said, ‘Hey I’ve got to talk to you about something.’ She said, ‘Yeah, we’re excited, we’re going to play Houston.’ I said, ‘No, that’s not what I want to talk to you about.’ She said, ‘Well you look kind of worried about it.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s about Tulane. I’m thinking about maybe making a move to Tulane. What are your thoughts?’ She said, ‘It’s in New Orleans. So yes.’ And that’s it. Walked away. That’s not how things work in my house. I knew then that it was okay.

But the second part of that is that – and I’m going to turn this way [toward players] when I say this: I’m not used to losing and I’m not going to get used to losing ever. I had planned on going to the NCAA Tournament next year at Georgia State, and I plan on going to the NCAA Tournament next year with my team at Tulane. Guys, I took over Georgia State – 10 straight losing seasons – at a press conference like this, and there were numerous people who were boosters who didn’t believe we could do that. I kind of laughed and said, ‘Yeah, Coach, you’re crazy. You’re not going to win at Georgia State.’ I had coaches who said that who actually called me this morning who want my old job. Funny how that works out. I’m telling you, not only are we going to win. We’re going to win big and we’re going to consistently win.

“I told these guys yesterday, I’ve got two goals for this team next year. To have the largest turnaround in NCAA history from 0-18 to the NCAA Tournament. And two, to prove everyone wrong. The third one is a personal goal. We played Houston in the NCAA Tournament the other day. I didn’t like how it ended. I didn’t like some of the things that some of the players said to me. I don’t know if they’re a rival of you guys, but they just became a rival of mine. I know this will get to Houston: Houston, you got me the first time. You won’t get me again. That’s for real. Now, off that personal note. We play in this building November 6. I just looked at the schedule. I don’t care if the Los Angeles Lakers come through here. I don’t care if the Boston Celtics who my son plays for comes through here. We are winning that game to show people that we mean business. I don’t care who we play. We can’t be great on the road or other places unless you’re great here. Now, that’s a lot of work we’ve got to get done, but that’s what we’re going to get done. [to players] I hope you guys are with me. I’m going to the tournament. If y’all don’t want to go, then that’s okay. I’ll take me and my wife and the president. Someone going to the NCAA Tournament and playing. I’m used to that, and I want you guys to be a part of that.

“Also, you’ve got a lot of successful things going on here at [Tulane]. I’ve been really impressed by some things. The first thing I’ve been really impressed with is our women’s basketball program. Our women’s coach has 500 wins. Now I’m not far from her, I’m about 40 wins away from her, and I told her this yesterday. If I don’t catch her in two years, there’s a problem. I ain’t waiting eight years to get 40 wins. In two years, I want to come to Lisa [Stockton] and say I joined the Lisa Club at 500. I want to make sure you guys help me with it.

“The next part of it – and this is the hardest part – last night was the only time I thought, ‘Do I really want to take this job?’ And you didn’t know this [looks at Dannen], but your football coach [Willie Fritz] is from Georgia Southern. Georgia State and Georgia Southern kind of clash a little bit in the state of Georgia. I can’t even believe we’re going to be working together. So I sent Coach Fritz a text, and I said, we’re going to get this started the right way. ‘How are you doing?’ He said, ‘Coach, glad you’re here.’ I said, ‘No, I don’t want to hear all that. If we’re going to be friends, I have to call the first play next year.’ It took a while for him to text back. He said, ‘What are you going to call?’ I said, ‘We’re going to throw it the first 90 times.’ I ain’t heard back from him yet. But I am so looking forward to my new favorite football team. I’m a huge college football fan. I didn’t used to be but when you move to Georgia you have no choice but to be a college football fan. So I am a big college football fan and my new favorite team wears green now. Can’t wait to cheer not only our women’s basketball and volleyball and football, my wife and I will be at all the games. I think it’s important that we’re all in this thing together. I’m invested in these guys, and they’re invested in me. But make no mistake: I came here to win. I could have stayed where I was and been happy and we were able to win. I came here to win and I’m going to win. All you who doubt, that’s OK. But I’m one of those guys who – and my wife will tell you this – I am going to tell you ‘I told you so.’ When I left Atlanta, I sent a lot of ‘I told you sos’ out to a lot of people. People thought I couldn’t do it at IUPUI. I still don’t even know what IUPUI stands for and I worked there for 17 years. So if I can recruit and win at IUPUI, I surely can recruit and win at Tulane. IUPUI may be the hardest job in the country, but we won at a place where no one said we could win. And I’ve had texts, and I’ve saved the texts of people that said, ‘Ron, why?’ They’re going to know why. They’re going to know why in about 12 months. Next time we’re sitting in here, we’re going to be celebrating going to the tournament, and we’re going to be dancing.”

On recruiting plan:
“I’m going to bring a lot of my staff, but I’m going to hire someone who has strong Louisiana ties and New Orleans ties. I don’t think you can be in a major city and not recruit the city. If you look at my track record when I was in Indianapolis, we had 7, 8, 9, 10 kids from Indianapolis. If you look at my team from Georgia, we had about 7, 8, 9 kids from Atlanta. We are going to recruit the city. We’re going to recruit the state of Louisiana. But make no mistake, I’m also going to recruit Georgia because Atlanta is a hotbed for us right now, and I’m a midwestern guy so we’ll go out. But predominantly we’re going to recruit the New Orleans area. My first thing I want to get done is hire someone I trust who knows this area. I did the same thing in Atlanta when I got there, I didn’t know the area very well. I did the same thing in Indianapolis when I got there, and I’m going to do the same thing here. And if you know someone who’s 6-8 and can really play, we need to talk.”

On whether he can win with current team or if he needs to add players:
“They only won four? Come on, Amy, let’s get out of here. [laughs] No, I’m joking about that because I don’t care. That had nothing to do with these guys and me right now. We’re on a whole new mission right now. As I told them yesterday, I actually feel sorry for them. I don’t know how that can happen., I’ll be honest with you. But it doesn’t matter. I guarantee you this: It’ll be more than four next year. I’ve already said this, if we win one conference game, I’m getting a contract extension. [laughs] But again, I don’t want these guys to think about anything that happened in the past. Today is a new day. I said something to Troy: I want to change the benches, we don’t want to sit on the same side, I want to go to the other side. Whatever jerseys we wore, we’ll wear something different. Everything is going to be different. It’s a new day at Tulane. We’re going to make some changes. Individually, these are going to come in here and I’m going to talk to some of them. First thing, they didn’t know I’m a licensed barber. Some of the guys are going to get a little haircut trim. [stares at player]. Not that I’m talking about anyone but we’re going to do something with people’s hair. It’s funny because some players, we have some kids who are from other parts of the world. It’s amazing, when they want to play, they speak English. And when they don’t want to talk to me, they speak in another language. He did that to me yesterday [points at player]. He walked in and said, ‘Hey Coach Hunter, how are you doing?’ I said, ‘Great, let’s work out.’ And then [imitates player speaking in foreign language].

On the constant of turnarounds in his coaching career:
“Well really if you look at it, the three schools I’ve been to as a head coach: IUPUI, Georgia State and now Tulane, all in major cities. I think that’s a big part of it. Secondly, they’re all programs that had long losing seasons. When you have a culture change – and that’s what we have to have, a culture change – it doesn’t take a lot. I know the guys with football tell you it’s a little different in football because you need more guys to be able to do it. In basketball, it doesn’t take much. We have enough talent here to win. We have to change the mindset. We felt just the same way when we took over at Georgia State. Ten straight losing seasons, and our first season I had eight seniors. We won 22 games our first year, and I didn’t recruit any of them, it’s just the team I had. It just becomes a mindset. We’re going to take the same formula that we took at IUPUI and Georgia State and we’re going to apply it here. And I don’t THINK it’s going to work, I KNOW it’s going to work.”

On being out of a one-bid league and playing in The American:
“That was also a big part of it. And that was extremely stressful as a coach. There were times that we finished 17-1 in the conference and had 26 wins and lost in the championship game, my son’s sophomore year. We lost in the Sun Belt and went to the NIT. Probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with, winning 26 games and not going to the NCAA Tournament – and beat six teams that were in the tournament. So that was very difficult. Those types of days, even this year, were probably the most stressful. I’ve had the best team in the league. We were in first place most of the league, we won the regular season. I was always concerned one bad half in the tournament, and now you’re playing in the NIT or the CBI. We don’t play in those. We’re either playing in the NIT or NCAA Tournament. I don’t play CBI, I don’t play that. We don’t mess with that stuff. That’s not who we are. We’re either NCAA Tournament or NIT. I just believe our program, there’s a standard we’ve got to get to. My mindset has never been this way: ‘You mean if I finish fourth place I go to the NCAA Tournament?’ I will still be mad in fourth place. I don’t believe in anything but winning and winning championships. Again, that’s the mentality that I’ve got to make sure these guys understand.”

On whether he will temper his celebration after winning so that he will not get injured:
“No. I’ve got a bad Achilles, an artificial hip, I just talked to our team doctors yesterday, I need them to look at both of my knees. But I will give up all of my body parts to get this team to the NCAA Tournament. They can have them all. Well, not all of them. Most of them. Not all of them, but most of my body parts they can have for the NCAA Tournament.”

On what he will highlight about Tulane and New Orleans when recruiting here:
“I think Tulane sells itself. I don’t think I’ll have to spend so much time [on Tulane]. This institution is well known, not only nationally but around the world. So that part of it will be easy for me. Next part when it comes for recruiting, to get into a door and really finish it, it comes on me. If I can sell IUPUI – If I got out of this business today, one thing I know I can do, I can recruit. So that won’t be a problem. I’m going to be able to get players here, that’s not going to be a problem for me. I think this is a great institution. You know people talk about this facility. Did I win here this year? Oh yeah, we did. So, my next game here, I plan on winning again. I told the guys the whole scouting report before. You know what’s crazy about you guys talking about your facility? This is the best facility I’ve ever had. I had a terrible facility at IUPUI. I played on the third or fourth floor at Georgia State. So, for me, this is the best facility I ever had. I think this is wonderful. I walked in here and I almost had a tear in my eye. So, it’s all about your mindset. I can’t wait to come in here. We’ve got this thing packed and filled, we’re pressing and running up and shooting 3s. That’s what we’re going to get it to, and that’s what we’re going to recruit to. So, there’s no negativity in me. From my staff to my players, if you say, ‘we can’t,’ you’re out the door. I don’t want to hear anything about what we can’t do, Tulane’s losing seasons, I don’t care about that. I wasn’t here before then. You had some great coaches before, that doesn’t matter to me. I have a vision. I know what that vision’s going to be, I dreamed about that vision last night, I woke up this morning and I know for a fact we’re going to get it there. I’m not going to let negativity get to any part of my players or me.”

Sophomore Guard Caleb Daniels

On his first impression after meeting Coach Ron Hunter:
“Overall, I’m impressed. He pretty much lit a fire inside of us and did a great job talking about his plans coming, winning and motivating us to get better. I like him.”

On what he remembers about playing against Georgia State each of the last two seasons:
“They played pretty fast (with) and up-and-down the court style. They played together as well. They were culture-based and played hard for Coach (Hunter). They had a bunch of dogs on their teams.”

On the difference in leadership:
“From a culture standpoint, it’s totally different. I feel like we had a really good team last year, but we just couldn’t put the pieces together. Now, he’s adding that culture piece to it and that will complete us.”

On what he said to inspire the team:
“I think we he won our hearts and our minds. One think that stood out to me is that you have to be a dog to play for him. I think we have dogs on this team. That’s what we’ve been waiting for – a coach that’s going to dig in us, push us to get harder and push us to get better. I can tell from his past teams. They were all dogs. They were all nitty-gritty. That’s really good for us.”

On being a local guy and hearing Coach Hunter say he wants to make the local connections:
“I’m really excited for it. We have a lot of good players in New Orleans. Adding someone like him who wants to recruit New Orleans kids is great. There is nothing like homegrown products.”