Prospect Spotlight: Shane Hunter (2019)
Ayala high school had a home-grown run to the CIF State Division III state championship game behind current Cal State Fullerton guard Austen Awosika and UC Irvine forward John Edgar, Jr.
If the Bulldogs are to rebound from a down year in 2016-17, current forward Shane Hunter, who resembles Edgar in both physical measurements and skill potential, needs to have a similar impact.
“We’ve seen some clips of him and he comes to open gym sometimes,” Hunter told Prep Hoops So-Cal about drawing comparisons to Edgar. “I’m trying to take as much as I can from his game. His shot is really good and I need to get my body stronger like his. He attacks and goes hard on defense all time.”
Ayala forward Shane Hunter is trying to model his game after former Bulldogs standout John Edgar, Jr.Hunter showcased an intriguing all-around game at the Prep Hoops So-Cal Top 250 Expo in mid-September, thriving as a high motor guy on defense and explosive attacker of the basket on the offensive end.
“I’m really good driving to the basket,” he said. “I’m really explosive on my first move. My ball handling could get better, but I think that’s an asset to my game. My defense is good, too.”
One thing that Hunter didn’t show was the ability to knock down the perimeter shot with consistency the way Edgar did his senior year, but he’s steadily working on that aspect of his game each and every morning.
“I’m working on my shot a lot,” Hunter said. “Our coach opens up the gym for us during zero period, so, every morning at 5 a.m. all the way up until 7, I’m getting shots up.
“The work is paying off,” he added. “I’m hitting more shots in games than I usually do and getting more opportunities to take them.”
For Hunter to realize his goal of playing Division I college basketball, he’s working on improving himself off the court in addition to on-court improvements.
“I need to work on off-court things like my grades, conditioning and athleticism,” Hunter said. “My GPA is a 3.4 right now, but I slacked off a little last year.”