Monmouth alumn TJ Hunt was once a young baseball player being recruited and now, he is the one in charge of that very same process.
TJ Hunt is the Director of Scouting and Operations of New Jersey for Prep Baseball Report (PBR), one of America’s biggest scouting services and top resource for amateur baseball. With PBR, Hunt is in charge of the scouting process of New Jersey amateur baseball players. As a 2015 graduate of Monmouth University his relation to the Hawks still hits close to home.
Hunt is also the grandson of Jim Hunt, a hall of fame high school coach, the son of Mickey Hunt, long-time head varsity coach of the Ramapo High School Baseball team, the younger brother of former MLB player and PBR National Crosschecker, Shooter Hunt, and the older brother of current Mississippi pitcher, K.C Hunt. Speaking of his early exposure to the sport, Hunt said, “It’s just through osmosis you just get involved in it and it was great!”
During his college recruiting process in high school, was the first time he had ever heard of Monmouth and is glad that he ended up here. “It’s just kind of a jewel of the state that many people don’t know about and it’s right next to the beach,” said Hunt. “You’re going to college at the Jersey Shore.”
While at Monmouth, Hunt earned Conference Pitcher of the Week honors, and was named Second Team All-Conference. His senior year, Hunt threw a no-hitter becoming the second pitcher (after Mets pitcher, Brad Brach) in Monmouth history to do so. He was then awarded the ESPN Capital One Impact Performance player of the week and Louisville Slugger National Player of the week.
After graduating in 2015, Hunt went on to sign a short contract with the Rockland Boulders saying, “It was fun. It was just kind of getting the experience of what professional baseball’s all about.”
After Hunt’s time with the Boulders, he was introduced to the Prep Baseball Report by two of his former Monmouth coaches, George Brown and Rick Oliveri. “I really hadn’t heard of it before and the one guy that they were actually good friends with was running it in New Jersey and I literally cold called the guy,” said Hunt. “I never really met him before and he kind of took me under his wing.”
Hunt eventually landed his current position in 2016, and has been there ever since in addition to being a teacher in Oakland, New Jersey as well.
When asked about his favorite part of attending Monmouth, Hunt said, “Just interacting with the different people. Just being exposed to different guys from different parts of the state, and even different states all together and kind of learn about how they grew up.”
Being from North Jersey and a big Mariano Rivera fan, Hunt added that while at Monmouth, he was able to see what a real Philadelphia sports fan was like, “It’s just a different animal for sure but it was great.”
TJ Hunt certainly has not given up on his roots as he still follows Monmouth sports. He looked back on his athletic experience praising Coaches Ehehalt and Collazo and adding, “Coach E definitely gave me an opportunity to play and I’m forever grateful for that and I’m still here in the game a little bit, I like to say.”
Hunt emphasized how grateful he is to have been a Hawk and that the school shaped his future just like it has for so many other graduates of Monmouth Athletics.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
