Where Are They Now? Hunter Atkins

Hunter Atkins still has the basketball when he scored 50 points against Lake Central in 1987.

"It was in our (Highland's) Christmas tournament," Atkins said. "I still have that ball and it does bring back memories."

Atkins was recently named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's Silver Anniversary team along with LaPorte's Eric Dolezal and Chesterton's Matt Nover.

Nover starred at Indiana University, while Atkins played at Ole Miss, then played his final two years at Loyola (Ill.) where he and Dolezal were teammates.

"That is an honor to be picked to that team," Atkins said. "When you look at who is on it and to be in that company is certainly something special."

Atkins is an account manager for Rohde & Schwarz.

The 1988 Highland High School grad and St. John resident sells test equipment to wireless companies and has a 12-state region in the Midwest.

Atkins and his wife Tiffany spend a lot of free time with their children Austin (14 years old) and Aubrey (12).

"I have coached everything from basketball to baseball to soccer and volleyball," Atkins said. "I love being involved with my kids and family. It is their time now to go out and enjoy themselves and play sports.

"I still think back to those days and high school is supposed to be the most fun and it was. Playing basketball with your friends and loving it."

His career keeps him busy and he loves the competitiveness of sales.

"I work with a Verizon or AT&T or a U.S. Cellular and they might have some problems with an area of calls being dropped," Atkins said. "We go in and test or sell them test equipment to solve the problem.

"The one thing I like is helping someone solve their problems and make their systems better."

With a 12-state region, Atkins does some traveling, much like college basketball. Atkins went from suburban Highland to the rural south at the University of Mississippi, to the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago when he transferred to Loyola.

"It was kind of neat because in Oxford (Miss.), you are the big thing in a small town and it was the SEC," Atkins said. "I move to Chicago, where Loyola was not the top dog and there are three million people.

"It was definitely a mix of different cultures."