Tindley boys basketball head coach Omar Dillard once texted Eric Hunter Jr. a long message about how Hunter wasn’t playing up to his ability during his freshman season at Purdue. Dillard may have dug just a bit too deep when he asked if they had raised the rim to 11 feet.
“He didn’t talk to me for a month,” Dillard said with a laugh.
A bond formed over years of coaching and mentorship made that moment possible. Dillard knew exactly what he was doing: challenging the player who has always responded.
Hunter graduated from Tindley in 2018 as a three-star shooting guard who, according to 247Sports’ recruiting platform, was in the top 30 at his position in the country. Dillard took the Tindley job the next season but coached Hunter in the AAU circuit, going back to fourth grade.
Hunter was a reserved kid back then, Dillard said. He was the quiet type who did what was asked of him and used his athleticism — Hunter was also a good soccer player — do the talking on defense. Those were the days Dillard learned he couldn’t motivate Hunter by chastising him like what might work with other players. It had to be more subtle.
“Is he really ranked higher than you for a reason?” Dillard might ask during a game where Hunter was struggling against a particular player. “Is that why he’s doing this to you?”
Dillard knew what buttons he was pushing when he sent that text.
Hunter isn’t the first Purdue player most people think of — or even the second or third, for that matter — on this talented team. Everyone seems more interested in if the Boilermakers can have big men Zach Edey and Trevion Williams on the floor at the same time, or if sophomore guard Jaden Ivey can compete for conference player of the year.
Then there’s Hunter, a two-year starter lurking in the background for Purdue, one of the popular picks to win the Big Ten this season and possibly make a Final Four run.
Hunter, a senior, has been the Boilermakers’ best perimeter defender. He led the team with 26 steals last season and has led the team in minutes played the last two seasons.
A non-starring role suits Hunter’s personality. Those who know Hunter aren’t surprised with how little he has to say about himself, so they do the talking for him.
“I love Eric Hunter to death,” former Tindley head coach Bob Wonnell said.
Tindley has played 15 basketball seasons, and Wonnell coached 10 of them, including the state championship team in 2017. He’s been around the game his whole life, including 20 years in coaching. He’s currently the head coach at Taylor High School in Kokomo.
“You don’t see too many people like that,” Wonnell said.
When Wonnell left following the state championship season, Kevin Butler stepped in for Hunter’s senior season. The two were familiar with each other, since Butler’s Victory College Prep teams played two close games against Tindley, including one win in 2015.
Butler, now the head JV coach at Ben Davis, said he appreciated how much respect Hunter showed him as a new coach taking over a team coming off of a state championship — all while Hunter handled the attention that comes with committing to and then signing with Purdue during the season.
“He handled it like a champ,” Butler said.
Hunter was the most recognizable name at Tindley as his reputation and recruiting profile grew. Longtime athletic director Marcel Bonds said he could schedule games against bigger schools, normally wary of playing a small charter school, because people understood how good Hunter was.
The 2018 class was full of what Bonds calls model students. They were good athletes, accountable in the classroom. Hunter could have made himself the face of that class if that’s what he wanted, but it wasn’t his personality.
“He grew to the point where he helped legitimize Tindley boys basketball,” Bonds said.
Talking to Hunter about his reputation at Tindley is the type of thing that doesn’t draw much of a reaction. It’s “weird” how highly some think of him, he said with a grin at Big Ten basketball media days in Indianapolis.
He paused for a second.
“I mean, it’s cool to think that people feel that way.”
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
