Michael Hunter enters his second season assistant coach of the Cleveland State men’s basketball team.
Hunter helped with bringing in an entire new team in his first year, aiding the Vikings to an 11-22 overall record and a 6-14 mark in Horizon League games. Hunter assisted in three players receiving Horizon League honors with two special awards: Chevalier Emery (Sixth Man of the Year) and Tre Beard (Sportsmanship Award). Dayan Nessah was named to the All-League Third Team.
In year one, the team set season records in three-pointers made (357), three-pointers attempted (953), and free throw percentage (.753). The Vikings also finished with the fourth most points in a season (2,633) and on the fourth most field goals made (965) and attempted (2,136). Shooting from beyond the arc was a big factor, tying the game record (16) on four occasions before breaking it with 17 against Oakland inside Woodling Gymnasium.
Off the court, the Green and White had the highest GPA in the department for men’s sports with a 3.62 GPA. Ten players were named to the Dean’s List while the entire team had a GPA above a 3.00.
Prior to Cleveland State, Hunter spent two seasons as the head coach at Shawnee State University, totaling 37 victories and a River States Conference East Division Championship. In 2023-24, Hunter led the team to a 21-10 overall record and an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.
Hunter’s fist head coaching job came at Lakeland, leading the program record from 2019-22, finishing with a 48-9 overall record and an Elite Eight appearance in 2021-22.
Hunter had coaching stops at Saint-Mary-Of-The-Woods, Lakeland Community College, Shawnee State, Urbana, and Goshen.
Hunter was a student-athlete at Columbus State for two seasons before transferring to NCAA Division III Ohio Northern for his final two seasons.
Hunter earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio Northern in 2008 before earning a master’s degree in education from Heidelberg in 2011.
Hunter is joined in Cleveland by his wife Kerrie along with his two daughters, Kendall (11) and Mikayla (2).
