BADALONA (Spain) - Cameron Hunt's basketball trajectory has never been easy. The path wasn't already there for him. He had to choose the right track on his own to find the perfect place to thrive.
His college experience already taught him that nothing had to be taken for granted, as nobody reached out after his high school days in Duncanville. He ended up shining with the Southwestern Moundbuilders in the NAIA.
In 2019, his name started to spread more, and Europe was up next - but not from the front door.
Fitness First Wurzburg Baskets gave him the opportunity to emerge in overseas basketball, but they wanted him to first prove his value with the club's second team in Pro B, the German Third Division.
In a similar fashion to the trajectories lived by other BCL standouts like Kameron Taylor and DeAndre Lansdowne, the 1997-born slasher climbed up the ranks to get to the top, putting up more than 20 points per game in 2019-20.
The natural consequence was being called up by the first team, as he earned a three-year contract with Wurzburg.
Being on the second team, I was coming in every day just trying to show what I'm capable of. I felt like I needed to dominate. Simple as that.
"I was surrounded by a great group of guys on the first team. Veterans like Skyler Bowlin, Cameron Wells, and Jordan Hulls really guided me well throughout that whole Third Division process," he recalls.
"Even when I got called to the first team, I still had that mentality: 'I need to prove myself.' I struggled early just because you're still adjusting to European basketball, but I was keeping that chip on my shoulder to prove myself every day that I could play with these guys."
The process to make everybody around him aware of his name led Cameron Hunt to average 17.1 points in his last season with Wurzburg, in 2022-23. By that time, the journey was nothing but special, also thanks to the American guard's natural connection with the city through a local legend.
"It was even bigger for me because I'm from Dallas. Dirk [Nowitzki] played in Dallas for 20 years, and the Mavericks were my favorite team growing up anyway. There was just a connection there already," Hunt explains.
There, Hunt shared time with other players who would have made noise in the BCL.
"Tyson Ward and I basically text each other every day. We're checking in on each other, seeing how we're doing. During our time at Wurzburg, we made a really special connection, and it’s fun to see how far we have made."
"We keep in contact with Desi Rodriguez, too. But I would say the one with whom I probably have the most connection with was with Felix Hoffmann. He's a legend there," Hunt says.
Three years in the making, the 28-year-old has had other experiences around Europe, moving to Derthona Basket, JDA Bourgogne Dijon, BAXI Manresa, and finally now at Joventut Badalona.
But this upcoming Tuesday, he will go back to the place that left love at first sight in his heart.
After leaving Wurzburg, Hunt has been the protagonist of some games played on German soil, against the likes of Telekom Baskets Bonn, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, or Niners Chemnitz, for example.
"There's just something about German air. I guess I just got so used to it, being there for four years," he says.
But on February 3, when Joventut will travel to Wurzburg trying to extend their historic winning streak to 9-0, everything will be different for him.
"It was pretty much home. When you're at a place for four years, you get really comfortable there. It might be emotional, I’ll feel some emotion when I get there, for sure."
Who knows, maybe one day he will return once and for all.
I would for sure be open to it: I do consider Wurzburg like a second home.
He won't only go back to his "second home," but he will also face up against the head coach who first made him thrive in European basketball, Sasa Filipovski - in Wurzburg since 2021.
I was with him for about two years. He’s honestly one of my favorite coaches because you can tell he cares.
"He's very passionate about the game, and he believes in developing players, which I felt was very big for me at that time in my career. I had a lot of room for growth. He truly believes in that," Hunt follows.
"Obviously, he's a little crazy, just because he's very passionate about the game. He wants to die for you, and he's got to get the best out of you, no matter what it takes. There's a lot of yelling and screaming in practice, but you can look past all that because it comes from a place of caring."
Coach Filipovski was treating Cameron like he has been doing with several other guards in Wurzburg: he gives them the stage to shine. The same thing is happening to Marcus Carr and Davion Mintz, for example.
"They’re both going to have long and promising careers. You can really tell they have great individual talent," Hunt says about his backcourt opponents before praising the Germans' campaign in the BCL.
"Their first two loss in the Round of 16 don't tell the story of how good they are, but they have a very good team."
If Wurzburg have gone through the Play-Ins against Patrioti Levice to reach Unicaja, Joventut, and Elan Chalon in Group K of the Round of 16 in Season X, the black-and-green team have had a perfect season thus far.
They have become the first team in history to get eight straight victories in their inaugural season in the BCL, and that's also thanks to Cameron Hunt's 13.9 points per game since the start of Season X.
"In the BCL, every game is important and bigger than others. We're taking it day by day. We’re hosting the Final Four, and that’s giving us extra motivation to try to get there. That's all in the back of our minds," he says.
"We can’t mess this up, we told ourselves. That's playing a part and how hard we're playing for it. We have a team that can potentially win it all, but we're going to take it game by game. Obviously, we still have to focus in the ACB because those games aren't easy either, at all."
Next to him, joining the Catalan side after two straight high-value campaigns in the BCL with Dijon and Manresa, Hunt has found a legend of European basketball like Ricky Rubio.
"I think he has similar values to me. He's very calm, very composed. That’s one of his values. Seeing that inspires me to keep going and know I'm in the right direction as well."
"I ask him a lot of questions. I'm just very curious about his career and how he goes about things. He comes to me and to the whole team in general, giving great advice because he's seen it all," he adds on Rubio.
Just like the Spanish mastermind, the former Wurzburg standout never lets the outside noise take over.
I try not to get too high, never get too low. I just try to stay calm in all situations. That’s how I live life.
Moreover, playing alongside the 35-year-old icon must feel similar to reading a basketball encyclopedia every day.
"He's seen every single style of basketball, every part of basketball. He probably gets annoyed with the questions I ask him, but he does a great job of telling me what he's seen throughout his career."
"He talks about composure a lot because there's a ton of adversity in games: he says to stay true to who you are throughout the game, even though things aren’t going your way."
"That way, the game will come to you. That sticks with me," Hunt explains.
Whether it was starting his European career in Germany's Third Division or living one of the best campaigns of his career next to Ricky Rubio, in an unbeaten team, Cameron Hunt is still the same as always.
On Tuesday, he will return to the place that challenged him to become who he is today.
He will return home.