As the 2023 football season inches closer, we are turning up the intensity with our preseason coverage, which means we’re working double time to analyze the teams, coaches and players who will soon take center stage on Friday nights.
This season, many rosters have been heavily affected by graduations that call for young or unproven players to step up and fill open roster slots. We’re also seeing an influx of talent moving across the Augusta area through a wave of transfers.
Beans Hunt is one of those latter guys. After rushing for 1,223 yards and 16 scores at Thomas Jefferson Academy in Louisville, Georgia — while averaging more than a first down per carry — the 6-foot, 180-pound senior has brought his talents over to North Augusta for his last year of high school football.
He’s a multi-sport standout who recently acquired a football scholarship offer from Limestone, and he’s one of several skill players new Yellow Jackets coach Richard Bush is high on. We recently had the opportunity to chat with Hunt about his excitement and expectations for a new season at a new school.
STOVALL: First thing’s first: I have to ask you about the name “Beans.” Is that truly your actual name or is it a nickname, and how did it come about?
HUNT: “I got the name Beans from my older sister, Tala. My actual name is Myran Gerald Hunt, Jr. My mom and dad were calling me June Bug when I was little, and my sister Tala is 13 months older than me. But she couldn’t say ‘June Bug’ so she called me, ‘Bean Cup.’ So from the time I was a 1 year old until now, everyone just called me Beans.”
STOVALL: How did you get started playing football? What made you want to do it?
HUNT: “My dad was a coach, and I was always around it. Coach (Harry) Bacheller who used to coach at Augusta Prep has always been a real big influence in my life. He and my dad always encouraged me. My two older brothers played football, so I followed in their footsteps. I don’t remember any particular play or moment that made me really love it. I just always felt like the football field was my comfort zone. No matter what was going on anywhere else in life, the football field was always a place I could just be myself.”
STOVALL: I see where you rushed for over 1,200 yards at TJ Academy last year. Some are saying you’re underrated because you attended a private school. Did any of that have anything to do with why you decided to transfer to North Augusta?
HUNT: “My dad taught and coached for 19 years. My mom just started her 20th year teaching at Paul Knox. My dad retired last year, and my parents worried about me making the drive to Louisville every day alone. With my mom at Paul Knox and North Augusta so close by, it just made sense for us to go to North Augusta.”
STOVALL: What’s it been like getting used to a new team, new coaches and new school environment so far? What’s been the best or most fun part? What’s been the most challenging or difficult part?
HUNT: “It was scary at first being, with North Augusta being such a big school compared to what I was used to at Thomas Jefferson, but the coaches, players, students, administrators and teachers have all gone out of their way to make me feel at home. The best part is making new friends and teammates. The most difficult part would have to be the starting over and having to prove yourself again. I’ve accepted the challenge, though, and I feel like it’s made me a better person and better football player. And, so when I went to North Augusta and visited, everything just felt right. Coach Bush made me feel welcomed, and I knew North Augusta was home for me.”
STOVALL: What do you feel is the best part of your game? What specifically have you tried to work on most during the off-season, and how did you go about working on it?
HUNT: “I feel like my vision on the field and my ability to hit the hole is the best part of my game. I’ve worked on learning our playbook and working as a receiver. My mom, dad and I spent the summer going to camps. At every camp I learned something that I could use to try and get better. I’ve also hit the weight room and have gotten stronger during this offseason.”
STOVALL: It’s your last season of high school football. What are you hoping to be able to accomplish in this final year?
HUNT: “I hope to stay healthy, have a great season, and help my teammates advance as far as we can in the postseason. I hope to have some good numbers and play football at the next level.”
