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Former Western Carolina coach Larry Hunter passes away

Hunter suffered a stroke over the weekend.

NCAA Basketball: Western Carolina at Cincinnati David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Former Western Carolina basketball coach Larry Hunter passed away Friday morning, the university has announced.

Hunter, 68, had been in the hospital since the weekend after suffering a massive stroke. Reports surfaced that he was on life support.

He served as head coach for the Panthers from 2005-18 and announced his retirement at the end of last season. Mark Prosser, son of the late Skip Prosser, replaced Hunter earlier this offseason.

In 38 seasons as a head coach, Hunter amassed 702 career victories, with stops at Wittenberg and Ohio before making his way to Cullowhee. Hunter was also the associate head coach at NC State from 2001-05 under Herb Sendek.

On his resume, Hunter had a D-III national championship, which he won with Wittenberg ins his first year as a head coach, as well as four other D-III Final Four appearances, an NCAA Tournament appearance with Ohio, and two postseason bids at Western Carolina.

Reactions from around college basketball:

Prosser:

Wittenberg coach Matt Croci:

Indiana coach Archie Miller:

UMass coach Matt McCall:

Samford coach Scott Padgett:

Stony Brook coach Jeff Boals:

ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla: