Indiana University Athletics
DIPRIMIO: Woodson Brings Excitement Kenya Hunter Couldn’t Miss
4/16/2021 1:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Kenya Hunter is pumped.
He's still an Indiana Hoosier assistant basketball coach, still committed to help bring a return to program glory and sees big things coming under new coach Mike Woodson.
"Some of the things he wants to implement from the NBA style excites me," Hunter says via Thursday's Zoom opportunity. "He's going to put a lot of effort and time into making this a program everyone can be excited about."
Uncertainty from last month's coaching change -- Archie Miller was let go, and replaced by Woodson, a former IU All-American, and NBA player and coach – has become a chance to continue what Hunter started last August, when he came to Bloomington from Connecticut.
"Everything happens for a reason," he says. I'm here for a reason -- the work that I've done; the amount of time I've been here; the relationships I've built with our staff and players. I think that was the biggest thing."
How valuable is Hunter?
Without Hunter, guard Parker Stewart probably doesn't stay, transfer guard Xavier Johnson probably doesn't come and continuity from the previous staff won't happen.
Over the last month, Hunter had plenty of job opportunities, but preferred to stay at Indiana. He'd just moved his family, and wasn't eager to move them again. Athletic Director Scott Dolson asked him to wait to see who he hired before making a decision.
"I was excited that he wanted me to stay," Hunter says.
Woodson taking over made it a no-brainer.
"It was obvious he's a good guy," Hunter says. "He shed his blood, sweat and tears here. I wanted to have a chance to be part of that."
Woodson's staff is designed to deliver championships. Hunter, Dane Fife and Yasir Rosemond are the assistant coaches. Rosemond was the final hire, and brings coaching experience at Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Samford and Seattle over 13 seasons. He played at Oregon before a four-year pro career in Brazil.
Former assistant coach Mike Roberts has been moved to assistant athletic director for basketball administration under Thad Matta, a 400-plus game winner as a head coach at Ohio State, Xavier and Butler. Clif Marshall has retained his job as director of basketball performance.
One big priority for Marshall -- improve the conditioning.
"The more we continue to learn about each other," Hunter says, "this is going to be a heck of a situation. It's been exciting and fun."
The transfer portal has added roster uncertainty as never before across the nation. More than 1,400 players have entered the portal, including seven from IU.
Woodson convinced forwards Trayce Jackson-Davis (an All-America last season who considered entering the NBA draft), Race Thompson and Jordan Geronimo, plus guards Stewart and Khristian Lander, to stay. Guards Armaan Franklin and Aljami Durham, and center Joey Brunk moved on.
"Yeah, we lost a couple of guys," Hunter says, "but we felt with the majority of the guys we got back, we could continue to build a team Indiana fans will be proud of."
The Hoosiers also return guards Rob Phinisee, Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal, and swingman Jerome Hunter. They will bring in 6-9 four-star high school center Logan Duncombe out of Cincinnati.
Woodson is taking a long look at the transfer portal to bring in a couple of more players.
Offensively, Woodson wants multiple players to handle the point-guard role. He will implement an NBA-style attack that pushes the transition pace and plays to players' strengths. It's playing fast, but not reckless; it emphasizes moving and sharing the ball over stationary set plays.
"It's not just coming down and jacking up a shot because you want to play faster," Hunter says. "It's an unselfish style of play offensively, but also at a pace where if you're open, (Woodson) wants you to feel free to shoot it."
Under Woodson, Jackson-Davis will be a man on the offensive move, switching from post to perimeter and all parts in between. Think Iowa's Luka Garza, who was a threat from three-point range as well as the paint en route to winning national player-of-the-year honors.
The 6-5 Stewart, a transfer from Tennessee-Martin, figures to have a major role. Hunter says he can run the floor, hit three-pointers and guard multiple positions.
The Hoosiers can't get enough of that.
Matta watched a recent workout session in which Stewart hit 20-of-21 3-point attempts. That's huge for a program that has rated in the lower half of the Big Ten in three-point shooting in recent years, and just lost two of its best three-point shooters in Durham and Franklin.
"We celebrated that," Hunter says of Stewart's sharp-shooting.
Stewart, who transferred in mid-season, hit 71 three-pointers for Tennessee-Martin during the 2019-20 season. In his first college season, at Pitt, he also made 71 three-pointers.
Stewart is still dealing with the death of his father, Anthony Stewart, the former head coach at Tennessee-Martin. The younger Stewart transferred from Pitt to play for his father, then transferred to IU after his father passed away last November. He was eligible to play for the Hoosiers during the second semester, but did not.
"It's day by day," Hunter says. "He's going to have good and bad days. The reason he came here is, when he does have those bad days, he'll have people in his corner who support and understand his situation."
Then there's Pitt transfer combo guard Xavier Johnson. Hunter had recruited him while he was at Nebraska, and kept in contact with Johnson's father since then.
That was a big reason why the 6-3 Johnson picked IU over programs such as Baylor, Houston and St. Joseph's. He averaged 14.2 points, 5.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds last season.
Johnson is a strong leader, defender and passer. His shooting needs work (a career 33.6 percent from three-point range at Pitt), but he still scored 1,152 points in three seasons.
"He can dominate as far as guarding the ball," Hunter says. "That's how Coach Woodson wants to play.
"He has a gift, especially in transition, to create for himself and others.
"First-step wise, he can get feet in the paint. He helps everyone around him be better. We need leadership on this team and he can help with that."
"He's continuing to get better with his three-point shot. There's still a lot of work to be done there."
In the end, work starts with Woodson, and as far as Hunter is concerned, no one does it better.
"When you talk to him, you're talking to someone who is real."
He's still an Indiana Hoosier assistant basketball coach, still committed to help bring a return to program glory and sees big things coming under new coach Mike Woodson.
"Some of the things he wants to implement from the NBA style excites me," Hunter says via Thursday's Zoom opportunity. "He's going to put a lot of effort and time into making this a program everyone can be excited about."
Uncertainty from last month's coaching change -- Archie Miller was let go, and replaced by Woodson, a former IU All-American, and NBA player and coach – has become a chance to continue what Hunter started last August, when he came to Bloomington from Connecticut.
"Everything happens for a reason," he says. I'm here for a reason -- the work that I've done; the amount of time I've been here; the relationships I've built with our staff and players. I think that was the biggest thing."
How valuable is Hunter?
Without Hunter, guard Parker Stewart probably doesn't stay, transfer guard Xavier Johnson probably doesn't come and continuity from the previous staff won't happen.
Over the last month, Hunter had plenty of job opportunities, but preferred to stay at Indiana. He'd just moved his family, and wasn't eager to move them again. Athletic Director Scott Dolson asked him to wait to see who he hired before making a decision.
"I was excited that he wanted me to stay," Hunter says.
Woodson taking over made it a no-brainer.
"It was obvious he's a good guy," Hunter says. "He shed his blood, sweat and tears here. I wanted to have a chance to be part of that."
Woodson's staff is designed to deliver championships. Hunter, Dane Fife and Yasir Rosemond are the assistant coaches. Rosemond was the final hire, and brings coaching experience at Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Samford and Seattle over 13 seasons. He played at Oregon before a four-year pro career in Brazil.
Former assistant coach Mike Roberts has been moved to assistant athletic director for basketball administration under Thad Matta, a 400-plus game winner as a head coach at Ohio State, Xavier and Butler. Clif Marshall has retained his job as director of basketball performance.
One big priority for Marshall -- improve the conditioning.
"The more we continue to learn about each other," Hunter says, "this is going to be a heck of a situation. It's been exciting and fun."
The transfer portal has added roster uncertainty as never before across the nation. More than 1,400 players have entered the portal, including seven from IU.
Woodson convinced forwards Trayce Jackson-Davis (an All-America last season who considered entering the NBA draft), Race Thompson and Jordan Geronimo, plus guards Stewart and Khristian Lander, to stay. Guards Armaan Franklin and Aljami Durham, and center Joey Brunk moved on.
"Yeah, we lost a couple of guys," Hunter says, "but we felt with the majority of the guys we got back, we could continue to build a team Indiana fans will be proud of."
The Hoosiers also return guards Rob Phinisee, Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal, and swingman Jerome Hunter. They will bring in 6-9 four-star high school center Logan Duncombe out of Cincinnati.
Woodson is taking a long look at the transfer portal to bring in a couple of more players.
Offensively, Woodson wants multiple players to handle the point-guard role. He will implement an NBA-style attack that pushes the transition pace and plays to players' strengths. It's playing fast, but not reckless; it emphasizes moving and sharing the ball over stationary set plays.
"It's not just coming down and jacking up a shot because you want to play faster," Hunter says. "It's an unselfish style of play offensively, but also at a pace where if you're open, (Woodson) wants you to feel free to shoot it."
Under Woodson, Jackson-Davis will be a man on the offensive move, switching from post to perimeter and all parts in between. Think Iowa's Luka Garza, who was a threat from three-point range as well as the paint en route to winning national player-of-the-year honors.
The 6-5 Stewart, a transfer from Tennessee-Martin, figures to have a major role. Hunter says he can run the floor, hit three-pointers and guard multiple positions.
The Hoosiers can't get enough of that.
Matta watched a recent workout session in which Stewart hit 20-of-21 3-point attempts. That's huge for a program that has rated in the lower half of the Big Ten in three-point shooting in recent years, and just lost two of its best three-point shooters in Durham and Franklin.
"We celebrated that," Hunter says of Stewart's sharp-shooting.
Stewart, who transferred in mid-season, hit 71 three-pointers for Tennessee-Martin during the 2019-20 season. In his first college season, at Pitt, he also made 71 three-pointers.
Stewart is still dealing with the death of his father, Anthony Stewart, the former head coach at Tennessee-Martin. The younger Stewart transferred from Pitt to play for his father, then transferred to IU after his father passed away last November. He was eligible to play for the Hoosiers during the second semester, but did not.
"It's day by day," Hunter says. "He's going to have good and bad days. The reason he came here is, when he does have those bad days, he'll have people in his corner who support and understand his situation."
Then there's Pitt transfer combo guard Xavier Johnson. Hunter had recruited him while he was at Nebraska, and kept in contact with Johnson's father since then.
That was a big reason why the 6-3 Johnson picked IU over programs such as Baylor, Houston and St. Joseph's. He averaged 14.2 points, 5.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds last season.
Johnson is a strong leader, defender and passer. His shooting needs work (a career 33.6 percent from three-point range at Pitt), but he still scored 1,152 points in three seasons.
"He can dominate as far as guarding the ball," Hunter says. "That's how Coach Woodson wants to play.
"He has a gift, especially in transition, to create for himself and others.
"First-step wise, he can get feet in the paint. He helps everyone around him be better. We need leadership on this team and he can help with that."
"He's continuing to get better with his three-point shot. There's still a lot of work to be done there."
In the end, work starts with Woodson, and as far as Hunter is concerned, no one does it better.
"When you talk to him, you're talking to someone who is real."
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