Former Golden Gopher standout Deb Hunter set the standard for guard play at the University of Minnesota . On Sunday (Jan. 18), Hunter will receive one of the highest honors bestowed upon an alum. Hunter will become the fifth player in Gopher women's basketball history to have her jersey honored with a banner hanging in the rafters of Williams Arena. The banner presentation is the headliner of a day full of activities welcoming the Gopher alumni back to The Barn. The annual alumni game will start at 11 a.m., followed by a pancake breakfast in the Sports Pavilion. The alumni game is open to the public. The breakfast is $5, and tickets must be purchased in advance on gophersports.com or by calling the Gopher ticket office at 612-624-8080 (1-800-U-GOPHER outside the metro). Both events are open to the public. Following the Gopher game versus Michigan , the alumni will gather for a reception at the McNamara Alumni Center .
Hunter's exploits from a career that spanned four seasons from 1979-83 have held up impressively to the test of time. Twenty-five years after she left the Williams Arena stage, the first player who made the No. 13 jersey well known still owns major school records in assists (532) and steals (413). Hunter was ranked second in scoring with 1,363 points at the end of her career and remains high on the leadersboard in eighth.
"Words can not even explain what this means to me," said Hunter, who graduated from the U with a degree in public relations in 1985. "When Pam (Borton) called with the news, I cried. That banner may go up with my name on it, but it represents the four teams I played on."
Hunter, a 5-10 guard from Cloquet , Minn. , was the court leader who directed the Gophers' coming of age in the early 1980s. During her career, Minnesota celebrated several program firsts; the first national tournament appearances (AIAW Tournaments in 1981 and 1982), the Gophers' first national ranking (18th in the AP poll on Jan. 27, 1980) and the most wins in school history (28 in 1980-81) among them.
A two-time Golden Gopher MVP (1982, 1983), Hunter was also among the first Minnesota players to earn acclaim on a national scale. She earned American Women's Sports Federation Honorable Mention All-America accord in 1982, and all-region honors three times. She was named to the very first All-Big Ten First Team following her senior season in 1983.
In addition to Hunter's banner ceremony on Jan. 18, the 1981-82 team and Ellen Kramer (1987-91) will be inducted into the Minnesota Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
The 1981-82 Golden Gophers owns the distinction of being the first Minnesota squad to earn a berth into the national tournament, the 1982 Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Tournament. The Gophers actually competed in the Tournament the previous season on the merits of hosting the national championship. In 1982, Minnesota traveled to the AIAW National Tournament in Piscataway , N.J. and defeated St. John's in the first round before losing to top-seeded Rutgers in the quarterfinal round. The Gophers finished with an 18-11 overall record.
Kramer was a three-time All-Bin Ten honoree during her Gopher career earning honorable mention acclaim as a sophomore and junior and second-team honors as a senior in 1991. Minnesota 's 1991 MVP, Kramer finished her career with 1,336 points and 712 rebounds.
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