After spending five years away from her hometown while playing NCAA Division I women’s basketball and earning her degree, Isabella Hunt rejoined the Bishop McCort Catholic High School athletic program Thursday.
Hunt recently finished her college career at East Tennessee State University. The former Crimson Crushers two-time all-state player had utilized her extra year of basketball eligibility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previously, she graduated from Mount St. Mary’s College, where Hunt was a three-year starter and appeared in two NCAA Division I tournaments.
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Bishop McCort Catholic Athletic Director Erika Strittmatter said Hunt will be an assistant girls basketball coach under coach John Hahn. She also will assist Strittmatter in the athletic department.
“We’re excited to have her back,” said Strittmatter, a first-year Bishop McCort AD who also was an assistant coach on the Crimson Crushers’ PIAA Class 2A runner-up girls team.
Hunt’s college experience and the resiliency she displayed during a stellar high school career will help young student-athletes, Strittmatter said. Hunt’s senior year at Bishop McCort twice was interrupted – first by knee surgery and later when COVID-19 ended the season with the surging Crimson Crushers in the state quarterfinals.
“It’s been a long five years, but five of the best years of my life,” Hunt said. “My college career has definitely been a blessing. I won two championships and went to March Madness twice. I couldn’t ask for much more out of a career than that.”
At Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Maryland, Hunt started three seasons, scoring 730 points and grabbing 721 rebounds.
The Mountaineers advanced to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years (2021, 2022).
A four-year dean’s list student-athlete and Northeast Conference all-academic performer, Hunt opted to play her fifth season at East Tennessee State University in the Southern Conference. Her role changed significantly.
“I transferred for my last year. It was a tough decision, but I felt it was time for me to move on and grow a bit as a person more so than as a player,” said Hunt, who is pursuing a MBA after earning a degree in sports management with minors in business and psychology.
“I was playing in a completely different role, something I wasn’t used to,” Hunt said. “The biggest adjustment was getting used to that role. I went from being a three-year starter at the Mount, playing 30 minutes a game, to coming off the bench.
“It took a little bit to get used to that, but once I embraced that role it made it a lot easier.”
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Hunt had 140 points and 140 rebounds while averaging 14.4 minutes of playing time with the 17-13 Buccaneers.
Adjusting to obstacles and adversity isn’t new to Hunt, a 5-foot-11 forward.
After earning all-state status as a junior at Bishop McCort, Hunt tore her ACL late in the summer before her senior year.
She didn’t play until mid-February. Back in the lineup, Hunt helped the Crimson Crushers win eight of their final 10 games following an 8-9 start to the season without her.
The Crimson Crushers beat District 7 Bishop Canevin and District 9 Keystone in the PIAA ...
