By LINDA BOUVET, LSSU Sports Information Director

Last January's season-ending injury and last summer's life-changing mission trip to Haiti helps define Lake Superior State senior guard Kyle Hunt's worldly perspective on his team's recent four-game losing streak, which he refers to as a “bump in the road.”

“We never expected to have an 0-2 start (in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference),” Hunt said prior to the Lakers' Dec. 10 game at Hillsdale. “It just happens. We have to make the best of it. I feel like I'm a positive person, and I try to be as positive as possible. I learned that from Coach Hettinga. If something bad happens, move on. It's over with and you can't change it.”

Hunt was one of the GLIAC's top scorers when he was accidentally elbowed in the face by a teammate during last year's game against Ashland. His injury required immediate surgery.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Hunt said. “It was quite an opportunity to go to Haiti. And even when I got injured, I realized how much I have outside of basketball.”

Hunt was one of 15 members of his church to travel to Port au Prince, Haiti, site of a ravaging earthquake two years ago. His missionary group helped rebuild churches and provide a positive presence to a poverty-stricken community. Hunt will forever remember visiting Mother Teresa's orphanage.

“Just from landing the plane it was a shock,” Hunt said of the country's poverty and devastation. “You realize how much we have here in the states, and how much they don't have. And they are the happiest people I have ever seen – with nothing. It made me realize that I don't need very much in life – material things. We have so much. It makes me sick to my stomach knowing how much we have.”

Hunt was amazed by the women who cared for 20-25 infants at a time, and that two-year-olds fed themselves.

“All of the kids' moms just dropped them off, claiming they would come back,” Hunt said of the orphans. “After a week would go by, they realized the parents weren't coming back. There were hundreds of kids, and rows and rows of babies. We'd play basketball or soccer. They thought blowing up balloons was the coolest thing. One kid every afternoon would come find me. It was hard leaving him.”

Young adults wanted to hear about Hunt's college experience, especially as a student-athlete.

“Kids our age would ask us about school,” he said. “They all want to make it to college someday. We take for granted our opportunities to play sports and go to college. They play soccer with a tennis ball, wearing no shoes on concrete. Here you can walk outside and find a huge field to play on.”

Despite his life-changing experiences, Hunt is still all business when he's on the basketball court. He entered his final collegiate season with high expectations of himself and his team. He is currently ranked 13^th in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in overall scoring at 15.4 points per game. He is beginning to pick up steam, having scored 20 or more points during three of his last four contests.

“I want to make it to the national tournament,” he said. “We made it my freshman year with Tim (VanOudheusden) and Ryan Kuhl. Once we make it there, anything can happen. We need to take it one step at a time. We need to make the GLIAC Tournament, and try to win that. It's strange this year because everybody is really good. In the past, some of the new teams in the GLIAC were weaker. Now, every night you play, you better be ready.”

Hunt most looks forward to games against Hillsdale. He scored a career-high 33 points against the Chargers last year and totaled 12 points and six assists during last Saturday's 72-56 loss. Lea Jones, Hunt's girlfriend since high school, is a junior guard on the Hillsdale women's basketball team. Jones and former Laker guard Emily Joseph were high school teammates. LSSU senior volleyball player Jeanna Radzinski was also a classmate when they attended Sterling Heights-Utica Ford II High School.

Hunt was named to the Pre-Season All-GLIAC First Team and is closing in on the 1,000-point career scoring milestone. During the pre-season, Hettinga referred to Hunt as the Lakers' “security blanket” because of the combination of intensity and calmness he brings to the team. Hunt said he takes his cues from Hettinga.

“Not in the aspect of being a basketball teacher, but more about life in general,” Hunt said in regard to his mentor. “When I had my face surgery, he drove five or six hours just to see me get out of surgery. He was there for one or two hours, then drove all the way back to the Sault. He shows you that he cares, and that means a lot. I look to him as a role model.”