Georgia State University already acquired its first casualty of March Madness—and it only just got into the tournament.
It wasn’t any of its players (which include former Louisville guard Kevin Ware) but rather Georgia State Panthers head coach Ron Hunter. The team celebrated qualifying for its first NCAA tournament since 2001 by winning the Sun Belt Conference championship game against Georgia Southern as they jumped and hugged each other in celebration.
Hunter was among them, but ESPN’s broadcast went from Hunter’s son RJ, who plays for Georgia State, to video of the coach being supported as he hobbled off the court.
https://vine.co/v/OVZxILO5igW
Someone quickly got him a pair of crutches as he went back to celebrating with the rest of the team.
— Doug Roberson (@DougRobersonAJC) March 15, 2015
Coach Hunter still cut down the net though!
— Georgia State Panthers (@GSUPanthers) March 15, 2015
Turns out, Hunter tore his Achilles tendon during the celebration, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Doug Roberson.
.@GSUPanthers coach Ron Hunter tore his achilles in the celebratory scrum after the game
— Doug Roberson (@DougRobersonAJC) March 15, 2015
Coach Hunter got a little too rowdy during the celebration. We're told his status is day-to-day.
— Georgia State Panthers (@GSUPanthers) March 15, 2015
He’ll probably have to sit out on all the dancing Georgia State will be doing during its time in March Madness, but it wouldn’t surprise us if he found a way to do it anyway while he recovered.
H/T The Big Lead | Photo via Skapunkskatedude/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY SA 3.0)