Hunt will don the UWG blue and red for his fourth season in the fall and each season the stats have improved for the receiver from North Carolina as he comes off a season with 22 receptions for 289 yards and three touchdowns. For his senior year Hunt doesn’t need much more motivation.
“Knowing it’s my last year here and possibly the last season I play football, everyday I come out and work hard as if it’s my last because it pretty much is,” Hunt said. “Then also having having success last year is something you want to build off of. It feels good having a successful season and knowing we’re capable of doing even better. It makes you work that much harder.”
UWG had one of its best seasons in recent history last year, capping off a 6-4 season with an upset of then-No. 1 Delta State at home. The continued improvement is something Hunt has seen first hand over the past three years and is ready for the added expectations heading into the 2012 season.
“I would much rather have high expectations because that means we’ve had a good team. You’ve just got to continue doing what you do to get better. We worked hard last year and in the years before that, even in the years we weren’t successful we still worked hard. We just tried to build every year,” Hunt said.
The offseason work has been aided by the return of quarterback Emmanuel Taylor who will come back for his second season under center for the Wolves.
“Just to continue to try to improve. Working out every day hard with a goal in mind — you want to improve, you want to get better, you want to win. Having another year with an experienced quarterback is a lot easier. We go out about every day to get our timing down,” Hunt said.
Along with the numbers Hunt put up as a receiver last year, he also threw for an 86-yard touchdown. The throw reminded the rising senior when he used to pass more than catch.
“It took me back to high school. I caught one pass in high school,” Hunt said. “Outside of that I had never caught a pass until college. It was really cool, fun experience to have. It’s fun to say, ‘Yeah, I threw one as well.’ It was a big play, I’m glad coach had the confidence in me to make that play. It was exciting.”
UWG coach Daryl Dickey expects Hunt to come in and continue his statistical climb while showing the leadership of a senior on this year’s team.
“V.J. has certainly made a lot of contributions and made some big plays. I would hope that V.J. will have had a really good offseason and trained very hard — all indications are that he has done that. The leadership is really coming to the forefront now that this is his senior year. I think V.J. is going to be a complete player for us,” Dickey said. “He’ll be a multi-use player that’s out there. I think he’s going to have a really good year.”
Now all that’s left is for the season to begin — and move into the new athletic facility by University Stadium — expectations and all.
“It’s a ton of fun. With having high expectations a lot of people are excited around here. We’re excited and then being able to move to our new facility and have the gameday experience is exciting. I’m happy to be here and happy that we were able to come up so much in the last couple of years,” Hunt said.
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