From 1994 to 2011, Hunter served as the head coach at IUPUI. Under his direction, the team advanced from an NAIA program to NCAA Division I. In its third season as a Division I program, Hunter led IUPUI to its first, and thus far only, NCAA tournament appearance in 2003. On January 24, 2008, Hunter coached a game against Oakland University while barefoot. He did this to benefit Samaritan's Feet, a foundation that works to provide hope and love to impoverished children around the world by washing their feet and giving them a new pair of shoes. His goal was to collect 40,000 shoes, however, before tip-off, over 110,000 pairs of shoes had been donated.
Georgia State
On March 21, 2011, it was announced Hunter would replace Rod Barnes as the Georgia State Panthers' men's basketball head coach. During his first season at GSU, Georgia State won 22 games, the fourth most in school history. The moment many know Hunter for happened in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Coach Hunter tore his Achilles celebrating the Panthers' Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship. Because of his injury, he was forced to coach their subsequent NCAA appearance from a stool. In their second-round game against the three-seed, Baylor, Hunter's son R.J. hit a deep, game-winning three with seconds left on the clock. When the shot went in, Hunter's rolling stool slipped out from under him while celebrating. The moment spurred a torrent of media attention and resulted in multiple features, interviews, and a spot in 'One Shining Moment' at the conclusion of the tournament. On November 20, 2017, in a win over Eastern Washington, Hunter earned his 400th career win. Ron Hunter has played a key role in the ongoing transformation of the athletics culture at Georgia State, particularly with the basketball program and their continuing ascension from being one of the most unsuccessful programs in NCAA Division I history to being one of the premier Mid-Major programs in the nation. Some of Ron Hunter's most notable wins as head of coach of Georgia State are: VCU, #16 Baylor, Georgia and Alabama. Hunter also notched a win against crosstown foe, Georgia Tech, in a 2017 charity exhibition known as the 'A-Town Showdown for Hurricane Relief'.
