Wolverines men’s basketball coach Dick Hunsaker says players are made in the summer, teams in the winter.
With decades of coaching experience, Hunsaker is certainly the man for both jobs.
“I love camps. I love kids. I love working with kids. Everything I’ve got in this game, I’ve gotten from summer camps,” Hunsaker said.
What Hunsaker elected not to bring up was his 2001 Mountain West Conference win with the University of Utah—after which he was named coach of the year by the Los Angeles Times and the Mountain West Conference.
He also launched UVU into the record books in 2006-07 with a 22-7 record, best by a Division I Independent in 20 years.
This last season, Hunsaker’s team won the Great West Conference regular season and he was named the conference’s coach of the year.
Despite his remarkable achievements and years of experience, Hunsaker insisted, “The contacts and people I’ve met come so much from summer basketball camps.”
“Overall I think it’s just the love and enjoyment you get from basketball. Basketball is a lifetime sport,” Hunsaker said. “I really enjoy working with kids and sharing the game with them.”
“He’s just like, respectable with all the stuff he’s done. I wish I had the skills to teach people basketball like him.” — Austin Drew, Desert Hills freshman
The passion for the game goes far beyond the UCCU Center.
“He’s just like, respectable with all the stuff he’s done. I wish I had the skills to teach people basketball like him,” said Austin Drew, a player on the freshman team at Desert Hills High School. “He does a great job at it.”
Drew’s teammates, Logan Taylor and Bryce Jones, couldn’t help but chime in.
“He’s cool! He’s tall! He’s funny!” they interjected.
Hunsaker’s love of kids and basketball makes for what he considers an outstanding summer camp.
“They’ll learn more at my basketball camp than at any camp in the state of Utah. I hold true to that,” he declared.
Ten years ago, when he first began coaching at UVU, the individual summer basketball camp consisted of roughly 10 individuals. This year, over 100 were expected to show up.
Coach Hunsaker’s Team Camp was held June 13-18, followed by his individual camp which spanned June 20-24.
Hunsaker, however busy he may be, wholeheartedly enjoys his time with what he called “an unusual talent pool.”
“Honestly, there is no challenge,” Hunsaker said. “It’s all fun. It’s all wonderful. It’s a privilege to coach and teach these kids.”
