GA State: The Chair That Became Famous

Photo Credit: Sean Gardner – Getty Images

There’s a chair that has the potential to be more famous than any of us will ever be. Georgia State University’s coach Ron Hunter had a Humpty Dumpty moment on the sidelines while celebrating his son, R.J. Hunter, hitting the game-winning shot to upset third seeded Baylor Bears.

It seems like Coach Hunter’s celebrating techniques have gotten him into a bit of trouble. He tore an Achilles tendon while celebrating the Panthers’ win in the Sun Belt title game and cannot stand for more than a couple minutes. This rolling blue office chair became credible after the game. So famous that son, R.J. reenacted the incident. The chair has its own twitter page, with featured comments such as “Getting some heat for collapsing under Ron as RJ’s shot went thru. Sit a mile in my wheels before you pass judgment, OK?” Give the chair a break, it’s been carrying quite a bit of weight recently.

All jokes aside, coach Hunter had his first career NCAA tournament win. R.J. Hunter’s three-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining summarized an ideal comeback from a 12-point deficit. Hunter scored nine consecutive points, including the three that brought chants of ”R.J. 3, R.J. 3, R.J. 3” from the Panthers’ fans section. Baylor finished with 21 turnovers. R.J. Hunter finished with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Markus Crider had 10 for Georgia State while Ryann Green scored 11 points.

Coach Hunter ends the game with grateful remarks, ”These kids are so resilient. It’s been like this all year. We kind of laugh because nothing’s been given to us… This group is just unbelievable. We never gave up.”

The chair will be pushed on to Xavier in the round of 32.