The New York Times-20080127-From The Quad

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From The Quad

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It's Gotta Be the Shoes

Ron Hunter, the coach at Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis, is probably best known for his exuberant celebration, complete with rolling around on the court, when the Jaguars made the N.C.A.A. tournament in 2003.

Now he has something else to celebrate.

On Thursday night, Hunter coached in his bare feet when I.U.P.U.I. beat Oakland, Mich., 82-69. He did it to raise awareness for Samaritan's Feet, a nonprofit organization based in Charlotte, N.C., that is committed to giving 10 million pairs of shoes to people around the world. It was estimated that Samaritan's Feet received 110,000 pairs of shoes as a result of Hunter's actions.

When we started this, I thought 40,000 was going to be tough, Hunter told The Indianapolis Star. When they told me before the game we already had 100,000, honestly, I almost broke down in tears.

Hunter did not make things easy on himself, either. He paced the sidelines for almost the entire game, as he normally does.

My feet hurt so bad, he told reporters after the game. But imagine a child or a human going their whole lives without shoes. CONNOR ENNIS