2020-21 Player Preview: Jerome Hunter
PREVIOUS PREVIEWS: Joey Brunk | Al Durham | Rob Phinisee | Race Thompson | Armaan Franklin | Trayce Jackson-Davis
Part of Indiana's 2018 class was a four-star top-60 forward in Jerome Hunter but soon after arriving on campus, expectations were changed due to his injury condition. Now, after a healthy offseason, expectations for the redshirt sophomore continue to increase.
"As we went into last year, we had our fingers crossed and we were really hoping Jerome would get that opportunity on the floor," Archie Miller said. "Once he established that he was going to be available every day, working hard at it every day, then it became a reality of this guy is a true freshman. Not only was he a true freshman on the floor in terms of experience, but he had been out a significant amount of time from the game."
"Last year, I was just really trying to figure out how Archie wanted me to play. What he wanted me to do for the team," Hunter said.
TheHoosier.com continues its 2020-21 player previews with redshirt sophomore Jerome Hunter.
2019-20 Season In Review:
Jerome Hunter had an up-and-down season last year and honestly, that was to be expected. After such a long time away from competitive high-major basketball, there was no telling how he was going to respond.
On the season, Hunter finished with averages of 3.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game. Those number aren't a great representation of just how effective Hunter grew to be down the stretch of the season.
In the first 18 games of the season, Hunter shot just 19.4 percent (6-of-31) from three but saw that increase to 40.6 percent from deep (13-of-32) for the final 12 games of the season.
"Right around January we were at a crossroads in trying to figure out what we could get out of Jerome. I think that the Ohio State game at home was an opportunity for him to grab ahold of more minutes," Miller said. "Once he did that, he showed that he was not afraid, he was tough and that if he could stay with it over the course of the next so many months, he could help our team."
From that point on, Hunter saw six games of 20 or more minutes, compared to just one game of 20+ prior.
2020-21 Season Expectations:
Coming into this year, Hunter is on the short list of guys that many people expect to have a breakout year for Indiana. While expectations should still be tempered a bit since he has just had one full year to recover, it's not outrageous to think that he can be consistent and key contributor this season.
With the departure of Justin Smith, minutes on the wing are now available and Hunter's shooting ability is something that is extremely beneficial for an IU team that was at the bottom of the Big Ten from the perimeter a year ago.
"Now, he has to start that way and continue to grow. He will play a big role on this team, without question," Miller added. "To me, as the coach, right now I look at him as one of the guys that I can trust... it's become '‘I am ready to take a bigger bite out of the apple.’ I think that is where he is at."
Having that trust from coach to player and player to coach is extremely crucial in getting the best out of the player. So while Hunter showed flashes last year of his ability, it was the inconsistency and lack of full trust between the two that may have kept him from breaking through even more.
So, this year I fully expect Hunter to be the first or second player off of the bench every game and play close to 20 minutes a game. Because of his versatility in playing either the 3 or the 4 in Indiana's offense, minutes will be readily available. If Hunter can see his three-point percentage near the 40 percent he shot a season ago, that will be even more beneficial.
Overall, I think numbers like 6-7 points per game and a percentage around 37 percent from deep are numbers that should be expected, and anything more than that is icing on the cake.
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