I talked to Ron Hunter on the phone last Thursday right after the basketball team returned to New Orleans from Birmingham. As usual, he is very excited about his team. From the outside looking in, Tulane definitely should be better this year, but how much better remains to be seen. All hoops practices are closed, so I won't see any of the new guys until the season starts. Although Tulane has not released its schedule because the AAC has not released its portion yet, the regular-season opener is Nov. 17 at FSU and the home opener is Nov. 22 against Drexel. I assume Tulane will play an exhibition before then but did not ask.
Here is what Hunter had to say:
On his thoughts about team:
"By far this is the best team I've had since I've been here. We were close last year and I thought we were a point guard and shooting away. We solved the point guard situation probably better than I even thought. Jalen Cook is one of the top five players I've ever coached talent-wise. He's really talented. Then with the experience of the other guys that are all coming back and bringing in those two other players who can really shoot. Again, I feel really good about it. This is as good as any of the tournament teams I've had, including the one with R.J. (Hunter). How many wins that translates into, I don't know, but this is the first time since I've been here where I feel like we're just not going into games to prove that we can compete. We can now win these games. We have enough talent where we can win these games now."
On what makes Cook special:
"He just can score. I don't have to run plays for him. I don't have to manufacture baskets for him. He's just one of those guys, whether it's a George Hill or R.J. Hunter, the guys that knew how to score, and that's what he has. There's a lot we're still trying to teach him, but you can't teach a natural guy how to score, and that's what he does. And he's a tough kid. I love everything about this young man. Even my son came in and watched him play and was like, he's got a chance to be a pro. He's just a really special player."
On continuity in program for first time in his three years:
"We're not starting over, and knock on wood this might be the first time I can finish a season. I have not finished a season yet (The AAC Tourney was canceled in 2020 due to COVID and he missed a chunk of 2021 due to COVID while his team did not get to play four games that were scheduled)."
On positivity:
"The main reason I feel good is basically I don't want to call it a throwaway year, but normally I don't play that many young people (freshmen Sion James and Tylan Pope played integral roles, second-year guy Jaylen Forbes was the star of the team and freshman Jadan Coleman was in the rotation at times), That's the first time since I've been a head coach we played that many young people, and we threw them into the fire. Not only did it get them better, but this summer has been unbelievable. This is the first time that I've had a group since I've been at Tulane that everybody knew the defense, that everybody knew the offense, so the familiarity of our program, to see Sion actually teaching it to Cook, I just haven't had that. That's the main reason that I feel good about it. But really all of the things that have happened between Ida and COVID has really helped this young group, and for them to get a year back is going to be crazy because on paper, we still look like a young team, but we've got a lot of guys who have some mileage. I won't go into a game wondering. Since I've been here I've always wondered will we do this, will we do that? I've got a pretty good idea how this group will compete and play."
On what did during Ida;
"Nothing. We were very fortunate to find a place to practice, and the people in Birmingham were great, but outside of going to the workout and the hotel, that was it. Now what I do think it did was create a bond. They knew each other from a year ago and I put the onus on them. The very first night that we got in there from the hurricane, I said two things will happen. There will be no excuses and there will be no complaining, and we did a really good job of that. With all the other things that were involved, with the animals there and all that, we talked about Noah's Ark a lot. But again, we took the positives out of it. There were a lot of things we could have said negative wise, but we took a lot of positives leaving Birmingham."
On Jaylen Forbes:
"He tried to do too much last year and he had to. If he didn't score, we had no chance of winning, and he was learning also how to be the best player on the team and learning how to deal with scouting reports and those things. He doesn't have to do as much this year. I think he can be a better player and average less points because of the talent they have around him."
On frontcourt:
Probably the biggest surprise since April has been Oton (Jankovic). He was so unhealthy last year. The COVID hit him. He could never get a foothold, especially for a foreign kid. This is the first time since he's been in the United States that he's played for somebody back-to-back years. He transferred high school and prep school and then he goes to Vanderbilt and transfers after one year, so is the very first time he has been in his second year of a program. He's been tremendous. With his athletic ability and his skill set and the improvement of (Kevin) Cross, we feel really good. That was a position last year that was by far our weakness, and this year it is going to be one of our strengths. Every time Oton does something, it looks like we recruited another player. His confidence has grown as he's gotten stronger, and I'm really excited to see what he brings to us this year."
On Devon Baker (transfer from La Salle) and Scott Spencer (transfer from UNC Asheville):
"Incredible depth and shooting. We couldn't sub much last year as you know and we couldn't shoot it. Both of those guys are career 40-percent shooters. Both of those guys have played in big games. They are older. They are not 18- or 19-year-old kids, so everything we needed to get better, those two guys bring to the table."
Here is what Hunter had to say:
On his thoughts about team:
"By far this is the best team I've had since I've been here. We were close last year and I thought we were a point guard and shooting away. We solved the point guard situation probably better than I even thought. Jalen Cook is one of the top five players I've ever coached talent-wise. He's really talented. Then with the experience of the other guys that are all coming back and bringing in those two other players who can really shoot. Again, I feel really good about it. This is as good as any of the tournament teams I've had, including the one with R.J. (Hunter). How many wins that translates into, I don't know, but this is the first time since I've been here where I feel like we're just not going into games to prove that we can compete. We can now win these games. We have enough talent where we can win these games now."
On what makes Cook special:
"He just can score. I don't have to run plays for him. I don't have to manufacture baskets for him. He's just one of those guys, whether it's a George Hill or R.J. Hunter, the guys that knew how to score, and that's what he has. There's a lot we're still trying to teach him, but you can't teach a natural guy how to score, and that's what he does. And he's a tough kid. I love everything about this young man. Even my son came in and watched him play and was like, he's got a chance to be a pro. He's just a really special player."
On continuity in program for first time in his three years:
"We're not starting over, and knock on wood this might be the first time I can finish a season. I have not finished a season yet (The AAC Tourney was canceled in 2020 due to COVID and he missed a chunk of 2021 due to COVID while his team did not get to play four games that were scheduled)."
On positivity:
"The main reason I feel good is basically I don't want to call it a throwaway year, but normally I don't play that many young people (freshmen Sion James and Tylan Pope played integral roles, second-year guy Jaylen Forbes was the star of the team and freshman Jadan Coleman was in the rotation at times), That's the first time since I've been a head coach we played that many young people, and we threw them into the fire. Not only did it get them better, but this summer has been unbelievable. This is the first time that I've had a group since I've been at Tulane that everybody knew the defense, that everybody knew the offense, so the familiarity of our program, to see Sion actually teaching it to Cook, I just haven't had that. That's the main reason that I feel good about it. But really all of the things that have happened between Ida and COVID has really helped this young group, and for them to get a year back is going to be crazy because on paper, we still look like a young team, but we've got a lot of guys who have some mileage. I won't go into a game wondering. Since I've been here I've always wondered will we do this, will we do that? I've got a pretty good idea how this group will compete and play."
On what did during Ida;
"Nothing. We were very fortunate to find a place to practice, and the people in Birmingham were great, but outside of going to the workout and the hotel, that was it. Now what I do think it did was create a bond. They knew each other from a year ago and I put the onus on them. The very first night that we got in there from the hurricane, I said two things will happen. There will be no excuses and there will be no complaining, and we did a really good job of that. With all the other things that were involved, with the animals there and all that, we talked about Noah's Ark a lot. But again, we took the positives out of it. There were a lot of things we could have said negative wise, but we took a lot of positives leaving Birmingham."
On Jaylen Forbes:
"He tried to do too much last year and he had to. If he didn't score, we had no chance of winning, and he was learning also how to be the best player on the team and learning how to deal with scouting reports and those things. He doesn't have to do as much this year. I think he can be a better player and average less points because of the talent they have around him."
On frontcourt:
Probably the biggest surprise since April has been Oton (Jankovic). He was so unhealthy last year. The COVID hit him. He could never get a foothold, especially for a foreign kid. This is the first time since he's been in the United States that he's played for somebody back-to-back years. He transferred high school and prep school and then he goes to Vanderbilt and transfers after one year, so is the very first time he has been in his second year of a program. He's been tremendous. With his athletic ability and his skill set and the improvement of (Kevin) Cross, we feel really good. That was a position last year that was by far our weakness, and this year it is going to be one of our strengths. Every time Oton does something, it looks like we recruited another player. His confidence has grown as he's gotten stronger, and I'm really excited to see what he brings to us this year."
On Devon Baker (transfer from La Salle) and Scott Spencer (transfer from UNC Asheville):
"Incredible depth and shooting. We couldn't sub much last year as you know and we couldn't shoot it. Both of those guys are career 40-percent shooters. Both of those guys have played in big games. They are older. They are not 18- or 19-year-old kids, so everything we needed to get better, those two guys bring to the table."