James Paton Hunter (born 19 June 1991) is an Australian-New Zealand

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the Maitland Mustangs of the

NBL1 East The NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales and the National B ...

Early life

Hunter was born in Nowra, New South Wales, but spent much of his childhood living with his grandmother in

Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of ...

, New Zealand.James Hunter just as skilled at music as basketball
/ref> He subsequently obtained a

New Zealand passport New Zealand passports (Māori: ''Uruwhenua Aotearoa'') are issued to New Zealand citizens for the purpose of international travel by the Department of Internal Affairs. New Zealand has a passport possession rate of around 70% of the population ...

as a teenager. For high school, Hunter attended Cranbrook School in the eastern suburbs of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where he was selected to represent Australia as part of the Australian Schoolboys' basketball team which traveled to the United States to compete in tournaments throughout North Carolina over a two-week period. He was also selected for the NSW Schoolboys State team and competed in the School Sport Australia Basketball Championship. Hunter also played rugby during his time at Cranbrook. Between 2009 and 2011, Hunter also played in the

Waratah League The NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales and the National B ...

for the Sydney Comets.

College career

Hunter's first college stint in the United States was at

Gillette College Gillette College is a two-year community college in Gillette, Wyoming. The college is operated by the Northern Wyoming Community College District. The college offers Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees, as well as certificate and ...

. After redshirting the 2010–11 season, he averaged 13.0 points and 6.8 rebounds in his lone season for Gillette in 2011–12. He transferred to

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

in 2012 and played just 18 games in two seasons. For the 2014–15 season, he transferred to

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

and averaged 5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 32 games.

Professional career

Hunter returned to New Zealand in 2015 and joined the

Manawatu Jets The Manawatu Jets are a New Zealand basketball team based in Palmerston North. The Jets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Central Energy Trust Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Pro ...

. In eight games during the New Zealand NBL season, he averaged 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. For the 2015–16 season, Hunter played in Spain for Grupo INEC Zamora of the

Liga EBA Liga Española de Baloncesto Aficionado (EBA), commonly known as Liga EBA, is a Spanish basketball championship that is the fourth tier level in the Spanish basketball league system, after the Liga ACB, LEB Oro, and LEB Plata. It is administered ...

. Hunter returned to Australia in 2016 and joined the Ballarat Miners of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). He was awarded SEABL Player of the Week for Round 19. In 15 games for the Miners, he averaged 11.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. In 2017, Hunter played for the

Southland Sharks The Southland Sharks are a New Zealand basketball team based in Invercargill. The Sharks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Stadium Southland. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the SBS Bank So ...

. In 18 games during the New Zealand NBL season, he averaged 7.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. On 11 July 2017, Hunter signed with the New Zealand Breakers for the

2017–18 NBL season The 2017–18 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2017 and February 2018, followed by a post ...

. On 8 January 2018, he was released by the Breakers. He appeared in two games for the Breakers, totalling five points. He later returned to the Southland Sharks for the

2018 New Zealand NBL season The 2018 NBL season was the 37th season of the National Basketball League. In 2018, the league welcomed back the Manawatu Jets after a two-season hiatus. The regular season commenced on Thursday 26 April in Napier with the Hawke's Bay Hawks h ...

. In 2019, Hunter played for the Knox Raiders in the

NBL1 NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia, consisting of NBL1 South, South, NBL1 North, North, NBL1 Central, Central, NBL1 West, West and NBL1 East, East Conferences with both men's and women's compet ...

. Between 2020 and 2021, Hunter played for the Sydney Comets in the

. In March 2022, Hunter signed with the Maitland Mustangs for the 2022

season. He was named team MVP. In December 2022, he re-signed with the Mustangs for the 2023 season.

National team career

Hunter played for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the

2017 FIBA Asia Cup The 2017 FIBA Asia Cup (formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship) was the 29th continental basketball championship in Asia. The tournament was organised by FIBA Asia. It took place from 8 to 20 August 2017, a week earlier from the initial sche ...

Personal

Hunter is the son of musicians

Todd Hunter Todd Stuart Hunter NOTE: Requires user to input song title, e.g. POLITICS (born 22 June 1951) is a New Zealand musician and composer known for his involvement in the band Dragon. Their best known songs are "April Sun in Cuba", "Are You Old Enou ...

and

Johanna Pigott Johanna Paton Pigott (born ca. 1955) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and screenwriter. Her best known hit songs are Dragon's "Rain" which peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in 1983, Note: Used f ...

. He also has an older brother, Harry, and a younger brother, Joey. His grandmother is

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

an.

References

External links

South Dakota bioWSU bioFIBA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, James 1991 births Living people Australian men's basketball players Australian expatriate basketball people in Spain Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Centers (basketball) Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Manawatu Jets players New Zealand Breakers players People educated at Cranbrook School, Sydney People from Nowra South Dakota Coyotes men's basketball players Southland Sharks players Washington State Cougars men's basketball players Basketball players from New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales