GREENFIELD — There were times when he thought his moment would never arrive.
On Feb. 14, when Greenfield-Central senior Sam Hunt walked off his home court for the last time, taken out of the game late after scoring six points off the bench, he was greeted by his friends, his teammates, his support system.
Jacob Cochran, Brady Mundell and Caleb Mundell were there waiting for him. It was a special moment, for so many reasons.
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“There was a moment, the best moment, was Senior Night, the last home game we played,” Hunt said. “I came off the floor and Brady, Jake and Caleb each gave me a hug and thanked me for being their senior leader. They were always there for me, always pushed me to get better, always supported me and always trusted me to hit shots.”
Getting to that point, getting to the final home game of his senior season, was a roller-coaster ride for Hunt to say the least.
He had ups. He had downs. He had more downs.
He faced adversity, disappointment and embarrassment. He constantly battled with the idea that he wasn’t good enough to play on a varsity basketball team.
This year, his senior season, he finished third on his team in scoring, despite coming off the bench and only starting a few games. He averaged 8.7 points per game, to go with 1.6 rebounds, an assist and a steal per game.
He launched more 3-pointers than all but two of his county counterparts and made the fourth most out of Hancock County players.
Hunt played and shot the ball with confidence, something he didn’t always have throughout his high school career.
His senior year, his final shot, was Hunt’s first year of varsity basketball. He finally made it, and he made the most of it.
Wake-up call
It was fifth grade when Hunt started taking basketball seriously.
He went to St. Michael Catholic School. He tried out for the basketball team with the goal of being on its A-team.
It didn’t happen. He didn’t make the cut. But when two people quit, he got the opportunity. He was moved up. He was an A-teamer.
That wasn’t how he wanted to make the team, though. That sparked a drive and determination that would stay with him to this day.
“From that point on, I was determined to never be a second option, so I was always working my butt off,” Hunt said.
Hunt shot the ball every day, regardless of weather. He worked on his dribbling, his jumping, his basketball knowledge, just trying to get better through his middle school years.
He had goals of playing in high school. When he got there, he thought he was ready.
He wasn’t.
“I’m not going to lie, I was a cocky kid. I thought I was a lot better than I was,” Hunt said. “I wasn’t. I was not good. Freshman year I struggled. I didn’t have a lot of confidence, either, believe it or not. I did not shoot the ball, nope. From where I am now to where I was, I did not shoot the ball really until mid-season sophomore year.”
The rest of the year was spent adjusting, trying to find his confidence. He saw the success the Cougars had that year under then-coach Michael Lewis, a 20-5 record, and he told himself he wanted to be able to lead a team like that.
Once his sophomore year started, he was full speed ahead. He was living and breathing basketball. He thought he was going to start on the JV team.
He didn’t.
That made him start working even harder, and he finally got his chance midway through the season. He played “decent,” he said, and kept his spot. He had some big games toward the end of the year. He thought for sure he would be on the varsity team his junior year. He had been told by his coach that he would be seventh man his junior year.
He wasn’t.
“That destroyed my confidence again,” Hunt said.
Stepping back
He isn’t afraid to admit it. There were nights where he would go home and feel lost. He’d cry.
All he wanted was a chance. He wanted to have the opportunity to prove he could be a varsity player.
Technically, Hunt was on the roster his sophomore year and saw a little bit of varsity time, but it was minimal. Once coach Lukas Haworth took over before his junior year, Hunt found out his role would, again, be smaller than he’d hoped.
He was again headed to JV.
“What was really difficult for me was to grasp the idea that I wasn’t on varsity,” Hunt said. “I was double-rostered sophomore year, and I played in the sectional game sophomore year, and I basically took a step backwards. That really upset me. That really got the fire going. I was really, really determined to get on there.”
He stayed after school every day trying to improve. Played in leagues and AAU to get better. He was still stuck on the JV team, and he wanted better.
“I was actually embarrassed by this,” Hunt said. “I came off a great season I thought, sophomore year, so I expected to be varsity.”
Despite the hit to his confidence, Hunt kept focused. The work continued. The grind continued.
What Hunt did during that season, and how he handled the adversity, played a big role in what was to come.
“It really did put Sam in a tough spot,” Haworth said. “But the maturity that he showed being on that JV team as a junior, playing it out, giving his very best night in and night out is really what led me to know that he was someone who was worth keeping around and who was going to play a pivotal role going into his senior year.
“You know what type of leader Sam was going to be this year because of the growth and maturity that he’s shown throughout his high school career.”
As senior year approached, Hunt was focused. He knew he only had one more chance. He has dreams of playing college basketball, and he knew if he couldn’t even get on the high school varsity team, those dreams were gone.
The work continued. It finally paid off.
“It was a lot of ups and downs, junior year,” Hunt said. “That summer, junior to senior year, I was determined that I wasn’t going to let myself be disappointed again. I came out with more confidence, I shot with more confidence. That’s where this season ended up, me becoming the shooter that I am.”
Finally there
It took a long time, but he made it.
How, you ask?
“Just an ultimate determination to continue to improve,” Haworth said. “He’s always been a good shooter that turned into a very good shooter because of his continued work ethic.”
This year, the only senior on the Greenfield-Central roster found himself a role on the varsity team.
Hunt started only a few games, and that was OK. He quickly developed an important role with the Cougars, and it was one he understood and embraced. He was relied upon to come off the bench and provide an offensive boost.
He excelled in that role.
“I think that was my big role. I understood why I was a sixth man,” Hunt said. “I was basically a spark plug. That’s what my role was, which I was fine with.”
After all of the ups and downs, all of the disappointment and frustration, Sam Hunt finally saw his name on the varsity roster and in the box scores. He finally saw meaningful varsity time for an entire season.
That, really, is what mattered. He’d made it. He finally got to play with his friends, got to share the varsity court with them.
“It was amazing, finally getting to the varsity level,” Hunt said. “The whole season was fun. We got to play fantastic competition. We played players that will probably go high D1. The whole experience was awesome. I hate to see it end like this, so soon. I basically got one year, one real year on varsity. I wish it could continue, but, you know, off to college.”
Even though he wasn’t a starter, Hunt was looked to as a leader, being the only senior. Some of the players with more varsity experience, such as Brady and Caleb Mundell, also took on leadership roles.
But younger players would rely on him. Players like Gavin Robertson, a freshman, and sophomores Caleb McIntire and Chris O’Connor would look to Hunt for guidance.
“Coming in as a freshman, Sam was the perfect role model,” Robertson said. “It’s just someone I could look up to easily and just want to follow his footsteps and step into his shoes when I’m a senior.”
“I was really, really impressed with the role Sam took on,” Haworth said. “It was unique that he had to be the senior leader but also was playing his first year of varsity as well. I thought that in terms of playing both roles, of figuring out the speed and pace of varsity basketball for the first time while at the same time being the senior leader we needed him to be, there was no one better suited for that than Sam.”
Looking ahead
The Greenfield-Central Cougars kind of knew that this year would be a building year. They’d been eyeing next year as “their” year, a year when a big senior class would finally reap the benefits from several tough, learning seasons.
That was a challenge for Hunt, being the only senior and knowing he wouldn’t be around for that success. His only varsity season saw his team finish with a 4-20 record.
But the Cougars’ senior leader wanted to help his team get better. He achieved his dream of making the varsity, and he did what he could to help the program move forward for a successful future.
“I’m the only senior. These guys, they’ve got one, two, three years left,” Hunt said. “For me it was tough, because I know this is my last season in high school. I think they’re going to have tremendous success, because this is another learning step. We’re going to have like seven seniors next season. Next year is supposed to be our year that we’ve been building for. The class below me, they’re good. They’ve always been good. It’s hard for me, but I know they’re looking forward to it, and I know in the big picture, this is a stepping stone.”
The patience Hunt displayed with his younger teammates, being willing to help build for a future that he wouldn’t be a direct part of, was something that impressed his coach, who also won’t be with the Cougars next year.
Both did their part to set the team up for success.
“I would have loved to have been able to continue on that path with the boys coming back, but that’s because of the tone that was set by Sam,” Haworth said. “For him to have that patience with them, keeping them focused on the perspective of we want to be our best this year, but this is about a process for our program, Sam did an amazing job of that. As many games as I think that Greenfield-Central basketball is going to win next year, I would have loved to have had the opportunity to be here and help them along that path. Unfortunately that’s not something I’m going to be able to do, and I wish that was my choice.
“It’s kids like Sam that make you happy to be in the business of coaching. I could not be more appreciative to Sam for everything that he has done for this program the last four years.”
While this was Hunt’s year, his chance, he was a role model and a leader that kept looking out for the interests of his team and the Cougars’ program.
The senior did his part to help the team grow.
“He knew that this was his year and this was his chance to show everyone that he had it in him all these years,” Robertson said. “He really grinded this year, especially this offseason. He really stepped up. He came in and just gave it all he had this year. I think he set a good example. Now, I think the juniors that we had this year are going to want to fill Sam’s shoes and be the leader that he was this year.”
Now that his high school basketball career is behind him, Hunt is looking ahead to college.
He is keeping his options open for school, but he has an idea of two things he wants to do. First, he wants to walk-on to a basketball team somewhere. He wants to keep playing. Second, he is leaning toward nursing school, to follow in his mother’s footsteps.
Wherever he ends up, his dream is still obtainable. He couldn’t be happier about that.
“There were times that I did not think I was going to ever set foot on this stage,” Hunt said. “Other times I would make sure that I’d go play, I’d go shoot, I’d go work out, because I wasn’t going to let that happen. I wasn’t going to let it get to that. I’ve always had dreams of playing college basketball. I still do. I’m hoping to be able to walk-on somewhere. I just made sure that I could keep those dreams alive.”