On Saturday afternoon at the Sports Arena, Georgia State men’s basketball blew out the Arkansas State Red Wolves by a final score of 74-43. Despite the victory, Panthers head coach Ron Hunter was not all smiles at the postgame press conference.
After the Panthers’ blowout victory, Hunter was asked about a technical foul assessed against senior guard Ryan Harrow that took place in the second half when Georgia State was playing defense.
The technical was Harrow’s seventh of the season. He was already suspended earlier in the year for the Panthers’ road matchup against the Red Wolves on Jan. 19 for an accumulation of technical fouls as the season has progressed.
“In 26 years in basketball, I don’t know if I’ve been so frustrated as I’ve been this year. Extremely frustrated,” Hunter said during the press conference. “But I can’t get into why. I’m going to have my say in this one day. It’s not about the officiating in this game [on Jan. 31 vs Arkansas State], but there are some things that I’m extremely frustrated about.”
The AJC also reported that the possibility of Harrow receiving further punishment from the Sun Belt Conference is “under review.”
At the Saturday presser, Hunter explained that this has been one of his more agonizing seasons.
Hunter said because of rules regarding what coaches can say about officials, he had to watch his words.
“I don’t know,” Hunter said at the press conference. “So I don’t get fined and get kicked out and not coach again, I’ve got to be careful with what I say.”
Another topic that did not sit well with the Panthers’ men’s basketball head coach occurred earlier in the season when point guard Jeff Thomas was declared ineligible to play this year by the NCAA. Thomas was expected to be a key piece in Georgia State’s starting lineup this season.
His ineligibility stemmed from lost paperwork regarding online classes he took in 2013.
After that matter, Georgia State declared the issue closed, but Ron Hunter still expressed his displeasure with Thomas’s ineligibility. He called the decision “100 percent wrong” on an edition of “Georgia State Basketball Live” on WIFN-AM 1340 The Fan 3 in December.
The Harrow technicals have occurred in the following games:
Nov. 21 at Colorado State (80-70 loss)
Nov. 25 vs Western Carolina (85-70 win)
Dec. 27 at Green Bay (78-61 loss)
Jan. 3 vs UALR (82-69 win)
Jan. 8 vs Louisiana-Lafayette (84-80 loss)
Jan. 15 vs UT-Arlington (83-62 win)
Jan. 31 vs Arkansas State (74-43 win)
