By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Vince Hunter has taken the Basketball Champions League by storm. The 24-year-old American forward made his debut with Avtodor Saratov during the 2016-17 campaign and helped AEK reach the top of the competition last year, but nothing he did prepared the fans for dominating performances in the current breakout BCL season.
The former UTEP big is averaging 18.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1,5 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.2 blocks and 23.4 efficiency per game. He’s the top scorer and has gathered a bigger efficiency ranking than any other player, not to mention his second in blocks and third in rebounds. The playoffs haven’t even started yet, but Hunter is the early favorite for the 2018-19 MVP honors.
The Queen is waiting for its opponent in the Round of 16 stage. Qualifying to the next round with some games in hand was indeed good for the team, but potentially securing first place in Group C could prove useful the rest of the way. Ultimately, AEK doesn’t want to miss out on the 2019 Final Four and the chance for a Champions League title repeat. As long as Hunter keeps on stuffing his stat sheet, the defending champions can be optimistic.
The road to glory
Hunter played in the NBA G League and the EuroLeague before settling in the Basketball Champions League. After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, he was acquired by the Reno Bighorns, but finished his first professional season with Panathinaikos and joined Avtodor during the 2016-17 campaign. He hadn’t yet gotten his NBA opportunity, but paved the way with 14.6 points per game in the BCL and 14.7 per VTB United League game.
The American forward/center took part in his first three NBA Regular Season matches with the Memphis Grizzlies in the beginning of the 2017-18 season, before he was waived. The opportunity was there for AEK and the Greeks landed him in January of 2018. Little did they know that Hunter would be instrumental in the Champions League and the Greek Cup triumphs.