Dick Hunsaker (born April 11, 1954) is an American college basketball coach and the former head men's basketball coach at Utah Valley University. He is also a former head and assistant coach at Ball State University. As one of Rick Majerus's assistant coaches, he worked with the Cardinals for two seasons, including their berth in the 1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Dick Hunsaker
Hunsaker, circa 1984
Biographical details
Born (1954-04-11) April 11, 1954 (age 70)
Playing career
1972–1973UTEP
1974–1977Weber State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1977–1987Weber State (assistant)
1987–1989Ball State (assistant)
1989–1993Ball State
1993–1994Hartford Hellcats
1994–1995Grand Rapids Hoops
1995–1998Manchester
1998–2000Utah (assistant)
2000–2001Utah (interim HC)
2002–2015Utah Valley
Head coaching record
Overall371–226 (college)
Tournaments2–2 (NCAA Division I)
0–3 (NIT)
0—1 (CIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 MAC regular season (1990, 1993)
2 MAC tournament (1990, 1993)
MWC regular season (2001)
2 GWC regular season (2011, 2012)
WAC regular season (2014)
Awards
MWC Coach of the Year (2001)
2x GWC Coach of the Year (2011, 2012)
WAC Coach of the Year (2014)

Hunsaker is best known for leading Ball State to the 1990 tournament. His team was led by University of Arkansas at Little Rock transfers Paris McCurdy and Curtis Kidd, Muncie natives Chandler Thompson and Billy Butts, and Detroit native Scott Nichols. The team, as a number 12 seed, defeated Oregon State University, which was led by Gary Payton in the first round and University of Louisville in the second round, before falling to eventual champions UNLV. His record while at Ball State was 97–33.

Hunsaker left Ball State in 1993 in the midst of an NCAA Investigation, but claims to have never violated any rules.[1] He coached the next two years in the Continental Basketball Association with Fort Wayne, Hartford and Grand Rapids. In 1995, he returned to the collegiate coaching ranks at Manchester College, where his record was 51–27.

His next coaching job was at the University of Utah, where he served as an assistant to Rick Majerus in his final years. Majerus took a leave of absence after the 2000–01 season opener due to health problems, and Hunsaker became interim head coach. Majerus had every intention of returning, but announced in January 2001 that he would sit out the remainder of the season to tend to his health and that of his mother. As acting head coach in 2001, Hunsaker led the Utes to an 18–12 record.[2] He took the head coaching position at Utah Valley State in 2002. His first season at Utah Valley State was the school's last year as a junior college. Utah Valley joined Division I in 2009.

Hunsaker is a Latter Day Saint.[3]

Playing career

edit

Hunsaker enrolled at UTEP in 1972. However, he transferred to Weber State after one year. He graduated from Weber State in 1977. He received a master's degree from BYU.

Head coaching record

edit
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Ball State Cardinals (Mid-American Conference) (1989–1993)
1989–90 Ball State 26–7 13–3 1st NCAA Division I Sweet 16
1990–91 Ball State 21–10 10–6 3rd
1991–92 Ball State 24–9 11–5 2nd NIT First Round
1992–93 Ball State 26–8 14–4 1st NCAA Division I First Round
Ball State: 97–34 (.740) 48–18 (.727)
Manchester Spartans (Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference) (1995–1998)
1995–96 Manchester 19–8 8–4 2nd
1996–97 Manchester 16–10 7–5 3rd
1997–98 Manchester 16–9 7–5 T–3rd
Manchester: 51–27 (.654) 22–14 (.611)
Utah Utes (Mountain West Conference) (2000–2001)
2000–01 Utah 18–12 10–4 1st NIT First Round
Utah: 18–12 (.600) 10–4 (.714)
Utah Valley Wolverines (NCAA Division I independent) (2003–2009)
2003–04 Utah Valley 23–5
2004–05 Utah Valley 16–12
2005–06 Utah Valley 16–13
2006–07 Utah Valley 22–7
2007–08 Utah Valley 15–14
2008–09 Utah Valley 17–11
Utah Valley Wolverines (Great West Conference) (2009–2013)
2009–10 Utah Valley 12–18 5–7 4th
2010–11 Utah Valley 19–11 11–1 1st
2011–12 Utah Valley 20–13 9–1 1st CIT First Round
2012–13 Utah Valley 14–18 3–5 3rd
Utah Valley Wolverines (Western Athletic Conference) (2013–2015)
2013–14 Utah Valley 20–12 13–3 1st NIT First Round
2014–15 Utah Valley 11–19 5–9 6th
Utah Valley: 205–153 (.573) 46–26 (.639)
Total: 371–226 (.621)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

edit
  1. ^ http://www.bsudailynews.com/media/storage/paper849/news/2005/03/25/Sports/Crazy.For.The.Cards-1306446.shtml?norewrite200611171258&sourcedomain=www.bsudailynews.com [dead link]
  2. ^ "Majerus to Sit Out Season Because of Mother's Health". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  3. ^ Meridian Magazine :: Sports :The List Archived October 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine