Hunter is set to enter his eighth season with the program.
After another tough year for the Tulane Green Wave on the hardwood, there's been plenty of speculation as to whether head coach Ron Hunter should remain with the program heading into next season. Reportedly, that will be the case.
According to CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Hunter will return for an eighth season with the Green Wave. His fate was announced just days after the team took a 74-60 loss to the Charlotte 49ers in the American Conference tournament.
For many, this likely comes as a shock. Hunter has led the program for seven seasons now, but he has had minimal success over that stretch. The same problems -- trouble with rebounding, a lack of physicality on defense and strange rotations throughout the game -- have plagued the program nearly every year.
Tulane finished this season with an 18-15 overall record, including an 8-10 mark that was good for eighth place in American Conference play. The team seemed to operate with a "feast or famine" mentality: either everything was going well, and the Green Wave could find a way to pick up a nice win, or the mistakes were almost endless. Hunter made few changes to the lineup throughout the year and was slow to make adjustments when certain players were struggling more than others. Even with a noteworthy season from standout Rowan Brumbaugh and a solid end to Asher Woods' campaign, Tulane truly struggled to find an identity on the court.
Through his time in Uptown, Hunter has led the program to a 106-103 overall record. Though that's just barely above an even .500 mark, the team's conference record is notably worse: the Green Wave is 55-69 in conference action. Tulane's best year under Hunter came in the 2022-2023 season. The team finished with a 20-11 overall record and finished third in its conference. The 2024-2025 season was also a bit more notable than the rest -- the program finished in fourth place and earned a spot in the 2025 College Basketball Crown. The Green Wave quickly ended its stint in the invitational tournament with an 89-60 loss to the USC Trojans.
Hunter has helped his program to a winning overall record just three times -- though in the 2021-2022 season, the team went 14-15 overall with a 10-8 mark and fifth-place finish in conference play. Tulane has finished in 10th place or worse in conference standings three times under Hunter.
With each passing year, it's becoming more and more evident that Hunter is not the right fit for the program. However, his contract runs through the 2027-2028 season thanks to an extension from previous AD Troy Dannen. The decision to retain him might simply feel like the "easy" decision: let Hunter roll through the rest of his contract, and it just simply won't be renewed when it ends. While the university would avoid any sort of buyout by honoring Hunter's contract, with each passing year, the basketball program slips further into a hole. How much longer will the same mediocre results be allowed?