So many times this season, it seemed the basketball gods were in Georgia State’s favor. Yet, when it came to March, they had a different plan for the Panthers.
Georgia State’s season came to end last Tuesday as it faced the stout defense of Clemson in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). The Panthers lost an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament with a loss in the Sun Belt tournament final last Sunday.
Senior Manny Atkins’ season was cut short as the Panthers were eliminated early in the NIT.
“We’re not going to let anything or anyone tell us we’re failures,” Head Coach Ron Hunter said following the Panthers’ loss in the Sun Belt final. “In a short period of time, we’ve done a lot at Georgia State.”
“Sometimes, you have to learn how to have pain before great things happen,” he said.
The Panthers contended with Clemson, even getting a small lead in the second half, but Tigers forward K.J. McDaniels was relentless, scoring 30 points and draining a tired Georgia State team.
When the buzzer sound, it signified the end of the Panthers’ best season since they made a NIT appearance in 2002.
Georgia State finished 25-9 and went 17-1 in Sun Belt games.
Hunter said he did not have to motivate his team to play the NIT game that came just two days following a devastating overtime loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt tournament final. It was, however, evident Georgia State did not have the same energy and life in them at Clemson.
Georgia State’s crowd stood shocked after the Panthers fell to Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Tournament final.
“I’m just so proud of our university,” Hunter said. “When our crowd and our band and our cheerleaders are on spring break, to make this trip- that was motivation enough to play.”
Hunter said his team was extremely tired coming off only one day of rest after their overtime effort.
Though it may seem hard for Panther fans to rid themselves of the displeasing taste the end of the season brought, Head Coach Ron Hunter is quick to remind anyone of the team’s accomplishments.
“We had two goals at the beginning of the year,” Hunter said following the loss to Clemson. “One was to win a conference championship, and we did. The second was to go to postseason play, and we did.”
The Panthers overcame a vast amount of adversity this season.
After starting its season 3-6, including a 75-65 overtime loss to Southern Miss, Georgia State changed its tune going into Sun Belt play, building a 14-game winning streak, the longest in the program’s history. The streak was the sixth-longest in college basketball at that time.
Students lift Ryan Harrow up as the Panthers win 12-consecutive game back in February.
Key victories in the winning streak included a home victory against rival Georgia Southern, a win over Troy in its first Sun Belt game since 1981, a win against Arkansas State off an R.J. jumper in the final seconds of the game, and a 101-91 overtime win against Texas-Arlington to keep the streak alive on television, just to mention a few of this season’s exciting moments. The Panthers were undefeated at home this season going 13-0.
Along with the winning success, accomplishments began to rack up.
R.J. Hunter went on a free-throw extravaganza, making 38-consecutive free-throws across five games, the most consecutive made in school history.
Hunter then reached 1,000-career points Feb. 15 against Troy to become the second-fastest player in the school’s history to reach the milestone, doing it in just 55 games.
In the following two games, Ryan Harrow and then-senior Manny Atkins were able to reach 1,000-career points, joining Devonta White, who already had reached the milestone, to give the Panthers four starters with more than 1,000-career points. The Panthers were one of three teams to have that many 1,000-point scores as a part of their starting five.
Hunter was named the Sun Belt’s Player of the Year, and, alongside Harrow, was named to the first All-conference team. Atkins was named to the second and White to the third All-Sun Belt teams.
Hunter was awarded Sun Belt Coach of the Year in his first year coaching in the conference.
Finally, the Panthers earned the Sun Belt title going 17-1 in regular season conference play, giving themselves an automatic bid into the NIT tournament and a No. 1 seed in the Sun Belt tournament.
Ron Hunter consistently said this team was changing the culture at Georgia State, and after Tuesday’s loss, he was able to say the culture had been changed.
Hunter said the crowd that traveled to Clemson was larger than the crowd in his first game at the Sports Arena, and was also impressed at the number of fans that traveled to New Orleans to support the team.
Four seniors played their last game as a Panther: Devonta White, Manny Atkins, Rashaad Richardson and Denny Burgillos. White and Atkins said while they were disappointed, they were proud of their team.
“We worked hard this season, and let’s keep it going. Maybe next year these boys can come out and get this win and get a championship for us,” Atkins said.
White said while he was disappointed with how the season ended, he and his team gave it all they got and because of that, he can live with that.
It may be a hard pill to swallow for Georgia State, but once the pain wanes and the March craze fades, Georgia State fans will be able to look back the rest of lives and remember when they were a part of one of the greatest basketball teams in Georgia State history.
