Highly coveted former Iowa State guard Tyrese Hunter announced Monday afternoon via Twitter that he has cut his prospective transfer list to six programs. For Hunter, those final six teams will include Tennessee, Kansas, Louisville, Gonzaga, Texas, and Purdue.
Averaging 11 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 4.9 APG across 35 starts as a freshman, Hunter was a member of the 2021-22 Big 12 All-Freshman team before being crowned Big 12 Rookie of the year.
At 6-foot, Hunter is known as an athletic playmaker who will blow by defenders in the lane with his quickness and can score at the rim with ease all of which has made him one of the top transfers to enter the portal this offseason.
Also a Lefty Driesell award finalist; the award given annually to the best defender in men’s college basketball, Hunter’s defensive abilities are also very well established with the Wisconsin native averaging 2 steals per game tied for second best in the Big 12 this past season.
Possibly Hunter’s best performance came during Iowa State’s first-round matchup of the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament with the Cyclones taking on LSU. Managing 23 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds, Hunter also added 5 steals to help lead No. 11 Iowa State to an upset victory over the Tigers.
Coming from St. Catherines High School in Wisconsin, Hunter was ranked a four-star prospect and regarded nationally as a top-40 player making him the second-highest ranked Iowa State recruit during this high school basketball rankings era. Wherever the dynamic guard ends up, Hunter will bring an offensive and defensive skill set unmatched by any freshmen in the transfer portal and will prove a huge addition to whichever program he chooses.
