The Georgia State Panthers men's basketball team represents Georgia State University and competes in the Sun Belt Conference of NCAA Division I. The Panthers play at the Georgia State Convocation Center in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The team is currently coached by Jon Cremins. Georgia State has appeared six times in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, most recently in 2022.
Facilities
GSU Convocation Center
In 2018, GSU announced that the 8,000-seat Georgia State Convocation Center, hosting the men's and women's basketball teams, was being developed near the recently acquired Turner Field property. Ground was broken the same year, and the facility was completed in time for the 2022–23 season. The facility was officially opened on September 13, 2022 and seats 7,300 for basketball games, 7,500 for commencement ceremonies, and 8,000 for concerts.
GSU Sports Arena
The Panthers previously played their home games at the GSU Sports Arena, located at 125 Decatur Street in the heart of the Georgia State campus. The facility was originally built in 1972 as a student gym and classroom space for physical education classes. The arena has a capacity of 3,854. The basketball court was named the Charles "Lefty" Driesell Court in honor of the former Panthers men's basketball coach. After the 2014–15 season, the center-hanging scoreboard was replaced with a four-sided hanging video scoreboard. Plans were released in 2012 to renovate the arena to turn the court 90 degrees, allowing for the court to be completely surrounded by seating with a new capacity of 5,000. These plans have since been abandoned in favor of a brand-new arena adjacent to Georgia State Stadium, which was previously known as Turner Field.
Practice Facility In March 2014, work was started on a practice facility for the team as part of an incentive package at the request of head coach Ron Hunter.
In April 2016, the facility was completed, slightly under its initial $1 million budget. The facility was built using an unused aquatics facility, with the court being built over the swimming pool after being filled in with concrete and padding. The court is named for Patty Ferrer and Cathy Henson, whose families were the main contributors to the project. The facility is shared between the men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the indoor volleyball team.
Coaches Prior to hiring Rob Lanier as head coach, the Georgia State Panthers men's basketball team was led by interim coach, Travis Williams. Most recently, Williams served as an assistant coach under Ron Hunter. Before that, Williams led a successful playing career for the Panthers—totaling over 1,000 career points before graduating in 1995. He also formerly led GSU as an assistant coach under Charles "Lefty" Driesell.
Bob Reinhart Coach Bob Reinhart led the Georgia State Panthers men's basketball team from 1985 until 1994. His overall record at Georgia State was 107–148. He has the second-most wins in Georgia State history (107), and is first all-time in tenure (9 seasons); his winning percentage (.420) places him fourth all-time.
When Reinhart took the head coaching job at Georgia State, the Panthers had just gone 2–26 the season prior. In his first season, the team finished with 10 wins. In the 1990–91 season, Reinhart's team finished the regular season 13–14 before achieving a series of "firsts" for Georgia State in the conference tournament. GSU had never before won a game in the conference tournament, had never beaten Little Rock, and had been swept in the regular season by all three teams they would end up facing. The fifth-seed Panthers went on to beat Stetson, USTA and Little Rock to win their first Trans America Athletic Conference tournament title and earn the school's first NCAA tournament bid.
Reinhart was twice named Coach of the Year by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club. The first award came after the 1990–91 TAAC tournament championship season. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
Reinhart was fired after the 1993–94 season and was replaced by Carter Wilson, his assistant at GSU and former player and assistant at Decatur High School.
Lefty Driesell Charles "Lefty" Driesell became the Panthers' head coach for the 1997–98 season and remained in that position for six years. He won 103 games and lost 59, giving a .636 win percentage. During his time coaching the Panthers, he won the 2000, 2001, and 2002 regular season conference title, the 2001 conference tournament, and advanced to the second round of the 2001 NCAA tournament.
After the 2017–18 season, Driesell was inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Rod Barnes Coach Rod Barnes, former Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year (2001), coached the Georgia State Panthers men's basketball team from 2007 until 2011. In that time, he managed 44 wins for 79 losses. At the end of the 2010–11 season, athletics director Cheryl Levick fired him with a year remaining on his contract.
Ron Hunter
On March 21, 2011, president Mark P. Becker and director of athletics Cheryl L. Levick announced Ron Hunter as the new head men's basketball coach at Georgia State University. Previously, Hunter spent 17 years as head coach at IUPUI. Known for his affiliation with Samaritan's Feet, a charity that donates shoes to children, Hunter brought with him a tradition of playing one game per season barefoot in an effort to raise awareness to his cause. Hunter inherited a team mostly put together by his predecessor, a lineup that had only managed 12 wins the previous season. With this team, he finished with a 22–12 record—which was just the ninth winning season the program had achieved since its inception in 1984. His son, R. J. Hunter, remained in Indianapolis to finish his high school career with his mother while Hunter coached in Atlanta. R. J. was actively recruited the elder Hunter to play at Georgia State, where he committed over Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Iowa. R. J. would eventually go on to become the school's all-time leading scorer while breaking many other offensive records.
Coach Hunter became the third Georgia State coach to take the Panthers to the NCAA tournament during the 2015 iteration of the event. After beating Georgia Southern in the SBC tournament, Coach Hunter tore his achilles tendon while running to his son R. J. Hunter in celebration, garnering attention from the media before their trip to the NCAA's. Due to his injury, Hunter was forced to coach in the NCAA tournament from a rolling stool. After a dramatic comeback over the third seeded Baylor Bears capped by a deep three-pointer shot by his son, R. J., Coach Hunter fell off his stool in celebration. This resulted in a media firestorm resulting in multiple interviews, features, and a spot in "One Shining Moment" at the conclusion of the tournament. The Panthers would be eliminated from the tournament in the next round by Xavier.
After the 2018–2019 season, Ron Hunter had the most wins in Georgia State history (171) and guided GSU to six post-season berths in his eight seasons at the helm. Under Ron Hunter, GSU also won Sun Belt Conference titles in 4 of his last 6 seasons, which included regular season championships in 2014, 2015 and 2019 and tournament championships in 2015, 2018 and 2019. During Hunter's tenure, the program produced the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year three times: R. J. Hunter (2014, 2015) and D'Marcus Simonds (2018). Some of the most notable victories in Hunter's tenure included VCU, Baylor, Georgia Tech, Georgia and Alabama.
Rob Lanier Rob Lanier, former associate head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers, was hired as head coach of the Panthers on April 5, 2019. His previous head coaching experience was with the Siena Saints, where he led the team to one NCAA Tournament appearance in four years, progressing through the First Four in the 2002 edition.
Lanier's first season finished with a 19–13 record, but the Panthers fell to rival Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament. The following season, Lanier led the Panthers to a victory over crosstown foe Georgia Tech, 123–120 in quadruple overtime. The game was GSU's first win over an ACC opponent, and saw several program records set, including most points scored in a game. The 2020–21 squad were ultimately crowned Sun Belt regular season champions, and reached the Sun Belt Conference tournament final, where they lost the championship game 80–73 to Appalachian State.
Bringing back a senior-laden veteran roster, Lanier's third team at GSU was the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt Conference. While the regular season league crown went to Texas State, GSU clinched the conference tournament title with a win over Louisiana in the tournament title game, securing an NCAA Tournament automatic bid—the Panthers' fourth in eight years. Drawing a 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, GSU were running number one overall seed Gonzaga close, trailing 62–58 with 10½ minutes remaining, before eventually falling to a 93–72 defeat. Lanier left to take up the head coaching role at Southern Methodist University after GSU's elimination.
Jonas Hayes On April 11, 2022, Jonas Hayes was officially introduced as Georgia State's men's basketball head coach. Hayes spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at Xavier. On March 16, 2022, Hayes was named interim head coach for Xavier, where he led the program to its first NIT championship in 64 years. Xavier's unexpected run in the NIT included wins over Florida, Vanderbilt, St. Bonaventure and Texas A&M.
Hayes is well known in the Atlanta area, as he and his twin brother Jarvis were standout players at the University of Georgia from 2001 to 2004. Hayes helped lead the Bulldogs to appearances in the 2002 NCAA Tournament and the 2004 NIT.
Conference membership Sun Belt Conference (1976–1981) Independent (1981–1983) TAAC/Atlantic Sun (1983–2005) Colonial Athletic Association (2005–2013) Sun Belt Conference (2013–present)
Postseason
Conference tournament championship results Throughout its years in the TAAC/Atlantic Sun, Colonial Athletic Association, and Sun Belt Conference, Georgia State has made it to the conference championship 10 times. Their combined record is 6–4.
1991 #5 #6 Arkansas-Little Rock W 80–60 1992 #2 #1 Georgia Southern L 82–95 2001 #1 #2 Troy State W 79-55 2002 #1 #3 Florida Atlantic L 75-76 2014 #1 #3 Louisiana-Lafayette L 81-82(OT) 2015 #1 #2 Georgia Southern W 38-36 2018 #2 #4 UT Arlington W 74-61 2019 #1 #2 UT Arlington W 73-64 2021 #E1 #E4 Appalachian State L 73-80 2022 #3 #8 Louisiana W 80-71
NCAA tournament results Georgia State has been to the NCAA tournament six times. Their combined record is 2–6.
1991 #16 First Round #1 Arkansas L 76–117 2001 #11 First RoundSecond Round #6 Wisconsin#3 Maryland W 50–49L 60–79 2015 #14 Second RoundThird Round #3 Baylor#6 Xavier W 57–56L 67–75 2018 #15 First Round #2 Cincinnati L 53–68 2019 #14 First Round #3 Houston L 55–84 2022 #16 First Round #1 Gonzaga L 72–93
NIT results Georgia State has been to the National Invitation Tournament twice. Their combined record is 0–2.
2002 Opening Round Tennessee Tech L 62–64 2014 First Round Clemson L 66–78
CIT results Georgia State has appeared in two CollegeInsider.com Tournaments. Their combined record is 1–2.
2012 First RoundSecond Round Tennessee TechMercer W 74–43L 59–64 2017 First Round Texas A&M–Corpus Christi L 64–80
Panthers of note R. J. Hunter: First-round NBA draft pick by the Boston Celtics, 2014 & 2015 AP All-America Honorable Mention, 2014 & 2015 Sun Belt Player of the Year, 2014 & 2015 Sun Belt Male Athlete of the Year, 2014 & 2015 First Team All-Sun Belt, 2014 Atlanta Tipoff Club Georgia Men's College Player of the Year, 2013 Kyle Macy Freshman All-America, 2013 First Team All-CAA, 2013 CAA Freshman of the Year Ousman Krubally (born 1988), American-Gambian basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League