By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Rebuilding for the 2022-23 season in the VTB United League, UNICS has penned Vince Hunter for the next season with the contract including an option for the 2023-24 season, the team announced Saturday.
“Hunter is an athletic big man equally effective as a power forward and center,” noted UNICS head coach Velimir Perasovic, “He is aggressive at the rim, quick and coordinated. Also has a good understanding of positioning off the ball that helps him receive passes in offense and block a lot of shots in defense.”
Hunter, 28, has been playing overseas for most of his professional career. Following his NCAA run at UTEP, he made his way to 32 G League games with the Reno Bighorns before joining Panathinaikos late in the 2015-16 season. The next campaign featured his first VTB stint at Avtodor Saratov. Following a cup of tea with the Memphis Grizzlies generating four games played in the NBA during the 2017-18 season, he enjoyed successful stints at AEK, Virtus Segafredo Bologna, and most recently in France as a member of Metropolitans 92. Averaging 12.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game in the 7DAYS EuroCup and 12.8 points per game in France’s Betclic Elite LNB Pro A painted the picture of the 2021-22 efforts.
Other incoming players for the team based in Kazan are Jalen Reynolds, Daryl Macon Jr., Artem Zabelin, Alexander Razumov, Mikhail Kulagin, Stanislav Ilnitsky, and Sergey Polstyanov. Georgy Zhbanov, Vyacheslav Zaitcev, and Andrey Vorontsevich re-signed. In contrast, Marco Spissu, O.J. Mayo, Ivan Lazarev, Artem Klimenko, Lorenzo Brown, Tonye Jekiri, Evgeny Valiev, Dmitry Uzinsky, and Artem Komolov exited.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net