JACKSONVILLE — With 19 seconds left in 14-seeded Georgia State’s 75-67 loss to Xavier, a father subbed his son out of the game.
It’s something he’s undoubtedly done hundreds of times the last three seasons RJ Hunter has played for Ron.
But this one was different; this one could be the last time, not only because it’s the end of the magical run over the last week for GSU, but also because the 6-foot-6 RJ Hunter will decide on going pro or not in the coming days.
They’ll make that decision as a family, and quickly, Ron said after the game.
“I love this kid, man. I love him,” Ron said in between sobs as the emotion poured out at the end of the ride. He had an arm around RJ then too, and even Kevin Ware, the other GSU player at the podium, who said he also sees Ron as a father too got choked up.
The crowd came to its feet as RJ exited. The ones not in GSU blue, that hadn’t been standing the entire game, stood in appreciation and Ron and RJ embraced.
It was the long bearhug style embrace your dad gives you when he’s proud of you, prouder than he’s probably ever been.
It’s the one he gives when you capture hearts even for just a short period of time to become national darlings in this 24/7 news cycle with such an abbreviated attention span.
Ron and RJ Hunter left the floor at Veterans Memorial Arena as well as the national sports stage just the way they fell onto it — literally in Ron’s case — 48 hours ago. They left together, one arm around each other, the other extended in acknowledgment toward the faithful blue-clad Georgia State fans, the ones from Atlanta Ron implored to attend the game because “you have nothing else to do.”
“I said it (Friday), if you're a dad, just go home and hug your kid, man,” Ron said. “This is a special thing. The one thing that I got from this is that you don't take these things for granted. I don't know if we'll ever get a chance to do that again. The next day isn't promised to you. I've said it before, he's a really, really good player, but guys, he is a much better son, and that's the fun part.”
For all the feelings they elicited, it wasn’t enough to get over the basketball buzzsaw they ran into. Xavier was ruthlessly efficient all afternoon. It shot 68 percent from the field, an ungodly 81 percent in the second half to keep the pressure on a Georgia State team that had opportunities to come back, just like Ole Miss did on Thursday against XU.
The Musketeers scored on 58 percent of its possessions and at a rate of 1.339 points per. They squeezed nearly every point they could from a game that ran at a glacial 56 possession pace, but within those confines, the Musketeers were able to flourish offensively whilst playing a tempo of 22 seconds per possession, a pace dictated by the press-heavy Panthers that Ron said executed the gameplan perfectly.
Georgia State would make a run, and Xavier would respond with a counter nearly every time, a frustrating realization for Ware.
“I was just confident that eventually they would crack, like Coach said. We were here Thursday against Baylor, and nothing went wrong,” he said. “They're an excellent team. Like Coach said, we didn't beat ourselves, they beat us. We can digest that and we can take that in, but it's just still like, man, we were right there, and that's just really how I feel about it.”
You’ll remember this Georgia State team when you have the aha moment next March during a highlight reel or when you watch One Shining Moment after the championship game or if you happen to watch Baylor play next season and think back to RJ’s miracle shot.
As quickly and as fiercely as Cinderellas steal hearts during the first or second weekends of the tournament, they exit our consciousness equally as fast when the cream starts to rise to the top and the favorites take hold of March as they so often do.
“This whole thing, man. I tried to suck it all in,” RJ said. “My first time in the NCAA Tournament, I dreamed about this moment, and it came to me, and God blessed me with a crazy week, man, the best week of my life. There's been so much going on. I can't wait to just sit down and digest it, man, and not worry about the next game. It's bittersweet right now.”
What I won’t soon — or maybe ever — forget is watching Ron and RJ Hunter walk off this floor as father and son.
Their bond makes them winners no matter what Xavier and the scoreboard have to say about it on this Saturday evening. That is the beauty found in all of March’s madness.
Follow Richard Johnson on Twitter @RagjUF
Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter hugs his son R.J. after taking him out of the game against Xavier during the second half of GSU's 75-67 loss on Saturday in the third round of the NCAA Tournament in Jacksonville.
