Before becoming a star on the basketball court as an Ichabod, junior guard Hunter Bentley grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where she attended Bishop Miege High School. At Bishop Miege, Bentley had an outstanding 94-6 record winning four straight class 4A-I state titles, earning all-state honors her junior and senior year. All these achievements on the court caught the attention from many colleges, including Washburn.

After a lot of thought Hunter decided to come to Washburn and major in political science. The first factor that influenced her decision was how Washburn could benefit her in the future while allowing her to play basketball for a winning program.

Bentley has also already made a few plans for life after college. 

“I interned in a lieutenant governors office this last summer so I like that state government kind of thing but I am minoring in Spanish so I might try to do something with international relations or something like that,” said Bentley.

“For me being in the capital for my major was really important for job opportunities and learning opportunities after, and also being able to play for a great program and for coach McHenry, Brett and Erika that have both been in his program and won a lot of games,” said Bentley. 

But Bentley also mentioned another thing that was important for her decision: distance from home.

“My major and school was a big part of it, but I also didn’t want to be too far from home, so with my family being in Kansas City they can obviously get here pretty easily,” said Bentley.

Bentley is not the only member of her family that goes to Washburn, and not the only athlete. Her younger brother Hudson just started his college career this fall as a member of the Ichabods football team. Bentley commented on how she feels in having a brother that is also an athlete here at Washburn.

“It is really cool, it is really awesome to see him around here lifting weights and being able to see all of his home games and also having him coming to watch my games this season,” said Bentley.

As a student athlete, Bentley knows how hard is to manage her time in order to be successful in both sports and the classroom, this will allow her to develop a helpful skill and be more productive.

“I think it honestly helps your time management skills a lot more because you know that’s when you’re going to have practice, and this is when you are going to have class and you have this amount of time to get your homework done. So, I think it is kind of helpful that I just don’t get to tell myself that I can do it later. I think it helped me a lot with prioritizing things because if I don’t do good in the classroom then I do not get to play,” said Bentley.

Bentley appreciates the schools’ spirit and support from all levels of the community. 

“I like how student athletes support other student athletes, and how we all go to each others games to watch and cheer for each other. I just really like that environment. Another thing is the support from my professors in the political science department, they have been really helpful to me in giving me all the support that I need to succeed in my classes,” said Bentley.

Edited by Adam White, Brianna Smith and Abbie Barth, Jason Morrison