Hunter named NAIA HoopDirt National Coach of the Week

BOSTON, Mass. -- Following a thrilling run to end the regular season that saw Shawnee State win 11 out of its final 13 regular season contests to go from sixth and last in the River States Conference's East Division on Jan. 8 to River States Conference East Division Champions on Jan. 22, Shawnee State men's basketball head coach Michael Hunter obtained national recognition -- as the second-year Shawnee State head coach was named as the NAIA HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Week Presented by JustPlay Solutions in a release put out by HoopDirt Monday.

This week, Shawnee State capped off its worst-to-first journey in less than a month-and-a-half in thrilling fashion, winning two competitive contests in different fashions.

Against Midway (Ky.) on Tuesday, Feb. 18, Hunter guided Shawnee State to a thrilling comeback — as the Bears overcame a 75-70 deficit with 57 seconds left to win on a Marcos Vazquez three-point shot at the buzzer, moving the Bears up from fourth in the RSC East Division into a three-way tie for the RSC East Division lead as Alice Lloyd defeated then RSC East Division leader Rio Grande and West Virginia Tech defeated Indiana-East.

Then, against Alice Lloyd on Saturday, Hunter's group led for 31:16 of the 40-minute affair — including the remaining 30:58 in the contest — en route to a 79-70 win that clinched the outright RSC East Division Championship.

During its 11 wins over the last 13 for Shawnee State, Hunter has guided SSU to an 8-1 overall record in single-digit contests — and 6-0 in games decided by five points or less.  The Bears' only loss in a single-digit affair during Shawnee State's current run was a 77-70 loss to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods back on Jan. 30. 

Over his two seasons at Shawnee State, Hunter is 37-22 overall with the Bears — having made a NAIA Second Round appearance in his first season on campus. He has helped directed a program that has now clinched a program record six consecutive winning seasons.

Hunter becomes only the second coach at Shawnee State to win the NAIA HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Week honors -- and the first to do so since Jan. 11, 2021, when DeLano Thomas accomplished the feat. Additionally, Monday's honoring of the award is the second time that Hunter has won the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Week honor, as Hunter obtained the honor at the junior college level when Hunter was the head coach at Lakeland Community College back on Feb. 1, 2022.

By virtue of being named as the Week 16 NAIA HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Week, Hunter is automatically eligible for the NAIA HoopDirt National Coach of the Year Award, which will be announced at the end of the 2024-25 college basketball season.