IUPUI coach Ron Hunter will coach in his bare feet on Jan. 24 against Oakland.
You read that right. He will coach in his bare feet.
He is doing this because he wants to draw awareness to those in the United States and around the globe without shoes.
His goal is to personally raise 10,000 pairs of shoes. And in May or July, he wants to take some of those shoes and put them on the feet of those who need them in Africa.
"I don't know how I'm going to coach without shoes [or socks], but the only way to bring awareness is to coach in bare feet," said the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis head coach. "There are kids without shoes who go their entire lives without shoes, so surely I can do it for one game."
Hunter is working with an organization called Samaritan's Feet. The organization was founded by Emmanuel (Manny) Ohonme four years ago. Ohonme, according to the organization's marketing director Todd Melloh, didn't get his first pair of shoes until a stranger gave him his first pair when he was 9 years old in Nigeria. Ohonme then went on to play college basketball in North Dakota, went into the business world and founded this company.
"He's paying it forward some 27 years after he received his first pair of shoes," Melloh said.
The goal of the organization is to put 10 million pairs of shoes on children's feet over the next 10 years. Melloh said the best way to donate is to go on line at www.samaritansfeet.org. For $29.99, you can either get a pair of shoes and donate a pair of shoes or donate two pair of shoes.
"We have distribution projects around the world and in West Virginia, New Orleans, Louisiana, Alabama, New York and Washington, D.C.," Melloh said. "Our primary focus is overseas and primarily Africa, the Caribbean and South America. We do about 15 to 18 shoe distributions in West Virginia alone. There are people there who are as poor as they are in Africa."
Melloh said the shoes are manufactured in China, using a similar facility to that of Nike.
He said he has known Hunter for a while since Melloh is based in Indianapolis.
Recently, they did a shoe drive for a woman has 12 children at Hunter's church.
"We put all 12 kids in shoes," Hunter said of the woman who he said was homeless.
Hunter said he and Melloh were discussing the organization recently, trying to figure out the best way to bring attention to the cause.
"Coach with no shoes," Hunter said.
Hunter said he wanted to tie in the home game against Oakland since it was the closest game to Martin Luther King Day. This year is the 40th anniversary of King's death.
"I wanted to do this on the 40th anniversary year of Martin Luther King's death (April 4, 1968)," Hunter said. "February is Black History Month, and I wanted it to be close to that too."
Hunter said he has coached a few players from Africaand heard the stories of children that lacked any, let alone appropriate, footwear. He said he originally thought of going to Africa in May but was told the time the shoes are needed the most is in July.
"Even though I don't want to take a week off from recruiting, this is bigger and more important to do it," Hunter said of missing time in the July evaluation period in college basketball.
"I want to personally take the shoes whether it's this country or wherever and put them on the feet so I know for sure they're going on kids' feet," Hunter said.
Final nuggets
• Let's dispense with any talk that losing to IUPUI is a bad loss for UMass. The Minutemen went to IUPUI. Last time I checked, no one else from a league as reputable as the Atlantic 10 or higher is taking that trip to Indianapolis.
The Jaguars are 11-3 overall and 3-0 in the Summit League and have already won two road games in the league.
IUPUI also has one of the more underrated guards in the country in junior guard George Hill. He's averaging 21.6 points a game, shooting 52.2 percent on 3s and 58.3 percent overall.
Hill played in only five games last season because of a broken foot.
"We've got one of the best guards in the country, and he's on every NBA scout's radar," Hunter said. "He's the best player in our league."
Hunter said no one should be shocked that IUPUI beat UMass at home.
"We've always been good in our building, and this is the best team we've had," he said. "This team is more talented than the team we took to the tournament [in 2003]."
• Boston College will regret losing to Robert Morris on Monday night. If the Eagles are close to getting an NCAA bid, that's exactly the kind of loss that could keep them out of the tournament.
• Division I is too big when Savannah State scores only four points in a half against Kansas State.
• Memphis coach John Calipari is trying to deflect undefeated talk. He said Monday night that he looked at Kansas' and North Carolina's schedule and saw that both of those teams have a better shot of going undefeated than the Tigers.
Meanwhile, Calipari was true to his word about trying to focus more attention on reserve guards
Jeff Robinson and
Doneal Mack in games against Siena and Pepperdine. Robinson, who had scored a total of eight points in the previous seven games, led the Tigers with 20 points in the win over Siena. Mack led the Tigers against Pepperdine with 23 points and a game-high 15 shots.
Calipari said he needs an 11-man rotation to get through Conference USA before the NCAA Tournament, and he spent quality time in individual workouts with Robinson and Mack to get their confidence going heading into the conference season.
Andy Katz
